Many are familiar with hopscotch, but I grew up knowing it as “la marelle”. It was a consistent pick on the school’s playground or outside our houses; all we’d need is a piece of chalk and a stone – and in the absence of chalk, we’d be creative... we always found a way.
I don't remember ever finishing either! I do very clearly remember the rule that had you hopping over ALL of the occupied squares. That could be quite a long jump if there were a lot of players! We called the top heaven.
i hated playing this when i was young. my girl friends loved it, though, but i had to play with them because it's a game for girls and apparently i was a girl. so i had to convince some of the boys to play just so no one could call it a girl's game.
ours was quite different although we did call the top heaven (or ciel to your la marelle), too. each player would have a flat rock or stone. i forgot now exactly what the mechanics were but like francoise, i remember jumping over the "occupied" squares. the only incentive for me when playing this was that i could manage the jumps sans stepping on any of the lines. very nice, caroline. it did bring about some good old memories.
So very nicely done! We called it "campana" (bell) and definitely it was a game for girls, no, us macho Southern Italian boys were not admitted to play!
ours was quite different although we did call the top heaven (or ciel to your la marelle), too. each player would have a flat rock or stone. i forgot now exactly what the mechanics were but like francoise, i remember jumping over the "occupied" squares. the only incentive for me when playing this was that i could manage the jumps sans stepping on any of the lines. very nice, caroline. it did bring about some good old memories.