La Ciotat: The Oldest Working Cinema in the World, the Birth of Pétanque and the Garden Under the Bec de l'Aigle
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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La Ciotat: The Oldest Working Cinema in the World, the Birth of Pétanque and the Garden Under the Bec de l'Aigle
200 + 100 XP
In 1907 at La Ciotat, Jules Hugues, known as Lenoir, a champion of the Provençal game whose rheumatism kept him from playing it, drew a circle, threw the jack five or six metres and played his boules with his feet planted, pieds tanqués; the first official competition was held here in 1910 and gave the game its name. The town also has the Eden Théâtre, opened as a theatre on 15 June 1889 and recorded by Guinness as the oldest cinema still working anywhere in the world on the strength of its first paying screening on 21 March 1899 — Louis Lumière shot his first films here in the summer of 1895. La Ciotat lies at the back of a crescent bay beneath the cliff of the Bec de l'Aigle, a pink conglomerate called poudingue, and at its foot the Parc du Mugel, about 16 hectares begun by Louis Fouquet in 1923, grows bamboo, bird-of-paradise flowers, cactus, palms and cork oaks.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Play a full mène of pétanque the way Lenoir invented it: draw your circle on the ground, throw the jack between six and ten metres, and bowl with both feet inside the circle and no run-up — the one rule that separates pétanque from the Provençal game it grew out of
2
of 4
In the Parc du Mugel, follow the calades — the channels cut into the slope of the Bec — down to the impluvium they fill, and work out how a garden of bamboo, bird-of-paradise and cactus is watered on a bare cliff foot
3
of 4
Climb to the belvédère above the Mugel, below the bastide that houses the Atelier bleu, and from there pick out the Île Verte sitting out in the gulf and the pink poudingue of the Bec directly over your head
4
of 4
Sit down for a film in the Eden Théâtre, in the Italian-style hall of 1889 the 2012-2013 restoration kept intact — 166 seats in the orchestra and 42 in the balcony — and look at the façade a German sea mine tore open on 25 March 1945
Play a full mène of pétanque the way Lenoir invented it: draw your circle on the ground, throw the jack between six and ten metres, and bowl with both feet inside the circle and no run-up — the one rule that separates pétanque from the Provençal game it grew out of
In the Parc du Mugel, follow the calades — the channels cut into the slope of the Bec — down to the impluvium they fill, and work out how a garden of bamboo, bird-of-paradise and cactus is watered on a bare cliff foot
Climb to the belvédère above the Mugel, below the bastide that houses the Atelier bleu, and from there pick out the Île Verte sitting out in the gulf and the pink poudingue of the Bec directly over your head
Sit down for a film in the Eden Théâtre, in the Italian-style hall of 1889 the 2012-2013 restoration kept intact — 166 seats in the orchestra and 42 in the balcony — and look at the façade a German sea mine tore open on 25 March 1945
Before you go
The Eden is a working cinema run by an association, not a museum: it opens for its screenings, so check the programme and book if you want to get inside rather than just see the façade.
Three festivals take the Eden over each year, when seats go quickly and the building is busy.
The road out to the Parc du Mugel is narrow with limited parking and is awkward for a motorhome in summer; park in the town and walk or take the local bus.
Boules are not provided. Bring a set or buy one in town if you want to play on the ground where the game started.
The Parc du Mugel is free and open every day, 8am to 8pm from 1 April to 30 September and 9am to 6pm from 1 October to 31 March, but it lies inside the Calanques national park and can be shut with the rest of the massif when the fire risk is high — check the hills access page for La Ciotat on the day. The belvédère above it closes with the park. Nothing else here is seasonal: the pétanque can be played on any boulodrome in the town, and the Eden opens for its screenings.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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