Whisky, Digestives and Dijon Mustard

I didn’t get in that long ago from training. This is due to what is becoming a habitual Friday evening beer with my old friend at the club. First we went to the training ground where the bar was showing Perpignan vs. Toulouse. We watched the last 20 minutes before moving on to the Hotel de Berny where my grubby training clothes were excused as anything Racing rules in this bar/restaurant, the classiest place in North Antony.

In the minibus on the way back from training, I whipped out my half-eaten packet of Digestive biscuits – as post-training snacks go, it’s a winner. When it comes to offering them round, I am now a true Frenchman, jovial and generous. There was once a time when I lived up to my nation’s reputation and held my biscuits in a tight-fist. You have to imagine saying ‘biscuit’ in French, “biskwee”...

I offered them round, “Biscuit, mon gar?”

“Whisky? Non, pas pour moi”

 “Now now my friend, I’m all for stereotypes, and certainly post-training refreshment, occasionally alcoholic, but I am not in the habit of carrying a bottle of whisky in my bag for a post-training tipple”

Oh how we laughed.

Autographs

I walked out of the gym on Wednesday for kicking practice to be met by a mob of young’uns. They were hungry for blood. I paid them no attention and made my way to the pitch but they blocked my way. They surrounded me, thrusting their white t-shirt and books in my face. I tried to explain that if they cared to look at their posters then they wouldn’t find me, that I was nobody, literally the most ‘nobody’ at the club. Of course, my broken French only convinced them that I was something exotic. “You speak English? I speak English. You big star.”

Me being such a gentle soul, I decided not to resort to violence to get myself out of this situation, so I signed one t-shirt and one book. These two cleared off, leaving me a passage to freedom. I only just managed to fit my head through the gap they left...

So we head to Dijon on Sunday. 7.30 am meet. Ugh. This is our match in hand and if we win then we have assured ourselves 1^st position in the pool. If we win then it is practically sure that our opponents in the first knock-out round will be...........Toulon. It’s hard not to think about May 8^th already. But a trip to Lyon (neutral venue) is a mouthwatering one. For now, I will have to content myself with the not so mouthwatering thought of Dijon Mustard. Yuck.