Club Pétanque | Boules in King’s Cross
Pétanque is a popular recreational game played in the South of France.
And in King’s Cross, of course.
This summer in Coal Drops Yard’s Lewis Cubitt Square, you can play the sport (sometimes also called boules) for free. And if you’ve never heard of pétanque or boules, you essentially throw a shiny steel ball (nonchalantly if you can), underarm, towards a smaller, wooden ball, called the ‘jack’. You have to get your ball as close to the jack as you possibly can – right before the jack is said to be ideal. Same as lawn bowls really, but with sand instead of grass.
Immaculate form…
Stereotypically this might all take place in a beautiful garden estate somewhere in the Riviera with a spritz in your hand and a panama hat on your head, but King’s Cross is probably the next best thing – there’s tons of bars nearby for al fresco drinking and the weather will (hopefully) be good, so it’s not a huge stretch to say that a similar sort of scene can be replicated here.
The Club Pétanque organisers have set it all up very professionally with four sand pitches, and to really ramp up those summer vibes have to linked up with Ruby Violet (an ice cream truck nearby) to sling limited-edition ’99 soft serves, decorated with ‘British seaside-inspired toppings’ like salted chocolate brittle and finished with a flake. Which, unlike some of the van vendors that pitch up around town with the nostalgic music…
…are actually 99p.
NOTE: Club Pétanque is on until the end of summer with the opening hours of 10am-9pm Mon-Fri & 10am-7pm Sat-Sun. It’s completely free and you just have to pick up your boules set from Handyside Sport Facility, which is signposted at Coal Drops Yard. You can find more info here.
Club Pétanque | Lewis Cubitt Square, N1C 4DR
After more inspiration? We’ve got you – here are 54 more wonderful summer date ideas…