Buses, Clermont and Paris by Night

My old chum Fino arrived on Wednesday around 6 o clock to stay until today, Saturday. I've just dropped him off at Antony station (after an espresso and a hot chocolate whilst translating Midi Olympique) so I thought I should recount the past few days.

Only 15 minutes after I had picked Fino up and I was hit by a bus. No joke, I was hit by a bus travelling at around 15mph. How, I hear you ask? I was standing on the pavement and the bus drove past very close and the wing mirror whacked me in the side of the head. Undeterred by this headache inducing flash, which caused one man next to me to stare at me in astonishment due to the calm manner I took it; we set off for the Racing Metro v Clermont Auvergne match. Thankfully, and somehow, one of the players had procured the use of one of the club’s vans to ferry about 8 of us over to the other side of Paris.

I found this match to be a much better experience than the Stade Francais game I went to. The crowd was about the same at 12,000 but the opposing stands created much more of an atmosphere. Also, give me some chips over a pretentious baguette any day. It was a great win against the current French Champions and it certainly makes a difference when you’re seeing the guys every day. Free tickets are a bonus too! Highlights can be seen here:http://www.racing-metro92.com/Equipe_Pro-1.html

After the match we had what Fino called ‘an authentic French experience’. If you want one of these experiences you need around 8 hyper teenage French rugby players, a van emblazoned with club logos and colours, a city like Paris, a great win, and maybe some alcohol too. Basically, they all decided that instead of just driving back round the Peripherique to the other side of town, they would give us a tour of Paris, what they called ‘Paris by night’.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, le Rosbifs, we are going to take the greatest the street in the world, the Champs Elysees”

“Ahead, you can see the Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon Bonaparte....”

(in unison) “Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées”

And so we went up and down this magnificent boulevard several times, making u-turns where needed and occasionally chatting to people on mopeds while stopped at traffic lights, telling them we’re Racing Metro and asking what team they support before promptly singing an uncensored song about the other team...

Perhaps I've not done this experience full justice, but to do that would probably go against some sort of rugby code of honour.

We eventually got home at around midnight. ‘An authentic French experience’, and quite a way to see Paris by night!