WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL BLOG for La Pétanque Marinière in San Rafael, California. LPM has been an active Marin pétanque club since 1972 and affiliated with the Fédération of Pétanque USA, since 1975. We welcome people of all abilities, ages and nationalities to come and enjoy pétanque with us.

The Pierre Joske Courts are located on Civic Center drive in San Rafael. (click for directions). Casual games are played every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from about 1 pm. Tournament play is usually held on the second Sunday of every month.

Please consult the links on the sidebar to the right for more information on clubs in the bay area, nationally and world wide.

If you would like to play but haven't any boules, please contact our President, Christine Cragg. They can bring some for you to use, as well as introduce you to the basic skills and techniques of pétanque. In addition, if you are looking to purchase boules but are unsure as to which size and weight are right for you, we have a range of different examples from which to choose.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

La Franc competition balls are available once again from Pétanque America. order here 



Sunday, April 21, 2019

LPM - FPUSA NorCal Regional 60 Over/Under Select Triples

La Pétanque Marinière will be hosting the NorCal Regional 60 Over/Under Select Triples on Sunday, June 9



Wednesday, March 20, 2019

PÉTANQUE! by Sally Ross

Get in on America’s New Sport!

By Sally Ross

Are you looking for a low-stress, very social game that can be played in an hour, is easy to learn, and encourages lively debate, serious concentration, and jovial competition equally among men and women, young and old? Pétanque, pronounced as pay-tonk, may be for you! 
Pétanque is one of many boules sports across the world—including Italian bocce, English lawn bowls, French boule lyonnaise, Le Jeu Provencal and others—where players or teams attempt to get their own balls closest to a smaller target ball. Pétanque is distinctive in three ways: 1) pétanque balls, or boules, are made of heavy metal (about 1.5 pounds each) rather than wood or plastic, 2) players throw a boule with palm facing downward, rather than rolling a ball with palm up, and 3) players stand within a stationary circle when launching the boule. In fact, in the dialect of Provence where pétanque was invented, it is pèd tanco, literally “feet fixed” (to the ground). read more

LPM - Select Doubles


Sacramento Pétanque - 2019 Norcal Regional Men's & Women's Triples


Washington Pétanque - 2019 Walla Walla Wine Country Open


Sunday, September 23, 2018

LPM- Henry Wessel, prominent Bay Area photographer, dies

Photographer Henry Wessel at the installation of his exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2007. Photo: PAUL CHINN, SFC

Henry Wessel, among the nation’s most prominent artists in the medium of photography and a Bay Area resident for four decades, died at his Point Richmond home on Thursday, Sept. 20. He had been suffering from lung cancer.
His death was announced by his longtime gallery representative, Trish Bransten. He was 76.
Wessel was twice awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, in 1971 and 1978. He was also the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships in photography, among many other awards.
His work was exhibited at major museums throughout the world, beginning with a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1972. He was one of 10 artists included in “New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape,” a seminal 1975 exhibition at the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y. Exhibitions were also mounted at, among other institutions, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 1998 and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2007.
Corey Keller, curator of photography at SFMOMA, organized the artist’s career survey as one of her first assignments there. “I did not know him when we started to work together, but by the end we were very good friends,” she said. “He was an incredibly generous person … everyone he came into contact with learned something from him. He always brought something to a conversation I hadn’t thought about.”
“Hank used to say that photography is easy,” Keller said. “He would say, ‘You have two decisions to make: Where to stand, and when to press the shutter. Pressing the shutter is saying yes to the world.'”
The museum holds 107 photographs by the artist. “We think he is one of the great American photographers, and our collection reflects that,” Keller said.
Numerous books of Wessel’s work have been published, including the five-volume “Henry Wessel: California and the West / Odd Photos / Las Vegas / Real Estate Photographs / Night Walk” (2005), “Henry Wessel: Incidents” (2013), and “Henry Wessel: Traffic/Sunset Park/Continental Divide” (2017). His German publisher, Steidl, plans several additional books, which Wessel recently viewed in proof, according to Bransten.
Wessel was emeritus professor of art at San Francisco Art Institute, where he taught from 1973 to 2014. His work is represented in San Francisco by Rena Bransten Gallery, and in New York by Pace/MacGill Gallery.
He is survived by his longtime partner, Calvert Barron, and son, Nicholas Ryder Wessel. A memorial event at the Minnesota Street Project is being planned for the afternoon of October 21st. 

Friday, September 21, 2018

LPM - Henry Wessel



Dear Petanque Family,

It is with a deeply sad heart that I am sharing this news.  

Henry Wessel, our dear friend, dedicated pétanque player, talented photographer, hardworking board member and all-around great guy to know - passed away last night, in his sleep. 
Our hearts and prayers are with Calvert.  We will miss our friend - and remember him and the wonderful moments we shared. 

Condolences may be sent to:  Calvert Barron, PO Box 70457, Point Richmond, CA 94807.

Christine