Erik: How has learning to play pétanque given you a new way to learn from others?
Matt: Boy, it has been incredible.
You know, somebody gave me a cheap pétanque set and pétanque is like French bocce.
It's a little bit more tactical.
The French pop the ball into the air and drop it in the right spot rather than bowling the
ball, and they usually play on crushed granite.
So it's all about how you place the ball and when you place the ball, and the kinds of
tactics that you have, and, of course, also the people that you play with.
Sometimes I play with folks who are negative, you know, and the things that are coming out
of their mouth and, especially, if they're a teammate of mine, it's gonna affect the
way I play.
And sometimes I play with people who have an enthusiastic positive attitude, and I tend
to do really well with my enthusiastically positive teammate.
I play with a lot of French folks, it's a French game, and they are an incredible bunch
of people, sometimes playfully arrogant but just wonderful, wonderful folks.
And it's -- for these people, it's -- it's like golf, but because of the team aspect
of it and the tactics that you use, and the overall strategy that you use to win points,
I think it's far more challenging and you get more out of it.
I actually get more out of it than I do golf.