Petanque on the Grassy Knoll in Bloomfield Hills

Among the shade of tall trees, with the lilting sounds of French music and singing in the background, and guests looking on, petanque was played on the challenging surface of Carole Crosby's petanque piste at the Alliance Francaise's Bastille Day picnic.

It didn't take very long after setting up the stringed piste before players began to assemble. Due to playing in the grass, we used a Golf-chonnette (bright yellow golf ball) in lieu of a cochonnet - and the undulating surface presented challenges to both beginner and experience petanquers.