Easter food, wood ovens and Petanque

Easter in Italy is a time for families and friends to get together. It is also the time of year when a considerable amount of food is eaten.
In Barga today, almost all the restaurants were full to overflowing as the tourist season has just about taken off.

Some residents of Barga, instead of attempting the crowded restaurants organised themselves with tables and chairs out in the Piazza with everyone bringing their own food to share with the rest.  Piazza Angelio in Barga Vecchia gradually filled up with tables and chairs during the day and the party carried on until dusk.

Just outside Barga in one of the country farmhouses which still has a working wood oven, more food was cooked and then eaten out in the fields. At the end of the meal people relaxed, again in the traditional manner, by a quick siesta under the trees or for the more energetic by playing a hotly disputed game of Petanque out in the road.

Just for the record, the Lucca – Barga – Rome team soundly thrashing the Lucca – Barga – France team 13 – 9.

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Pétanque (from pieds tanqués, meaning feet together) was created in La Ciotat, near Marseilles, in 1910, when an elderly boules player, Jules Le Noir, created a new set of rules designed to help those, like him, who had trouble moving. Under the rules you have to be standing still with your feet on the ground when you throw your boule at the porcelet (or jack).
In official competitions, the teams are made up of three players. The pitches must be a minimum of 4m wide and 15m long. The metal boules weigh between 650g and 800g
The boule nearest the porcelet wins the point. The first team to reach 13 points wins the game – Petanque in Barga