Alcohol, coffee and cigarettes go hand in hand with pétanque. Cigarette in hand, the petanque ball, marked by many hard-fought games, is about to be thrown once again by a seasoned player, hoping to achieve victory with this shot.

From his first trip to Provence, Hans Silvester was fascinated by the petanque players, an activity that was widely practiced in the region. When he moved to Provence a few years later, he was introduced to the game of boules with local figures. He came across famous players whom he immortalised in his photographs, such as the gamekeeper of Murs, "Chinche", who is among the best known and most prized photos. He gradually made a place for himself by developing the photos and taking them to the players the next day, and was thus able to immortalise some anthology photographs...

Retour De Voyage has selected this photograph by Hans Silvester, who has captured the essence of pétanque.