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We do not have much information on play in France. Many of the play activities seem European wide including America. We do not yet know much about the games and other play activities French boys enjoyed. Many like chast perché (tag) and ache-cache (hide and seek) would have been played by other children around the world. We note avariety of traditional games, but theu are not played a often as they once were. The games may have different names, but are basically the same. One such game which at first was played by adults was Blind Man's Buff. It coud be played indoors or outdoors. The translation is 'buff de l'aveugle', but it was called 'colin-maillard'. This came from a medieval fight between a French lord of Louvain and a man named Colin who fought with a mallet and was blinded in the battle. Pétanque is a very popular outdoor French game and still mis widely nplayed. One source tells us, "... you'll see played in almost every French city garden and park at almost any time of day!" Other ganes include Escargot (Snail) , Jeu de la barbichette (Game of the Goatee), Les loups-garous de Thiercelieux (Werewolves of Miller's Hollow), and Bilboquet (Cup and Ball). Boys played war which was a kind of outdoor role playing game. Of course an important part of childhood is outdoor play. Billes (marbles) was very popular, but tosay less so. Mothers tend to disapprove and children are now more closely supervised rhan ever before. In addition there are now all kinds of video games with war themes. These are especially pipular with chuldren and seem to have repanced the war games boys once played outdoors. One popular play activity was a range of vehicles such as bicycles and other convehences like scooters and pedal cars. These were at first expensive and only available to wealthy children. They became more available after World War I. Gradually they became more available as prices declined and incomes of average families increased. There were gender differences, concerning play. This was especially notable with outdoor play.
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