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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Lauren O'Neill

It may be a load of boules, but you won’t be able to avoid pétanque this summer

English football fans play pétanque in Saint-Etienne during the 1998 World Cup.
English football fans play pétanque in Saint-Etienne during the 1998 World Cup. Photograph: Jérôme Delay/AP

Trends in big cities always move at a zip, but over the past few years it seems that London has become a particularly faddy place. The en vogue trainer of the moment changes like the unpredictable weather (Adidas Gazelles and Sambas appear to have clung on for the moment, but sports shoes by typically uncool brands such as On are waiting to swoop in at any minute).

Styles you thought were long since dead get resurrected overnight (we are living, hellishly, through the boho revival). Where hobbies are concerned, the winds of change breeze by so frequently that it’s common to see your friends suddenly taking up activities that you would never associate with them in a million years.

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