Fiji v Georgia – Bordeaux

So we waved goodbye to the Not-so-small Boys and the Lovely Girls, dropped them back at Carcassonne SNCF, as they headed back to the UK from different airports after a couple of days in glamorous hotels as couples, rather than as part of our chaos. So lovely & very lucky to have had that time with them all.

The we were off to Bordeaux again, this time for Fiji v Georgia, a 17.45 kick off and then straight on to Arcachon, to meet up with friends from the UK for a week by the sea. Bliss.

We decided to try and park at the stadium as we had an onward journey post match & so made sure we arrived in good time. It was a doddle – shaded parking area for hundreds of cars right outside the stadium, what more could we ask for. The picnic table & chairs we have lugged round France with us suddenly came into their own and a car park picnic, made up from scraps we’d dragged with us from the Carcassonne fridge, was soon underway – very satisfactory.

We finally used the table & chairs we’ve had with us for the past month

Catering doesn’t look too unhappy with scraps from Carcassonne & the beers were still cold

The Georgians are clearly all home grown players, with pretty much every surname ending in kadze or vili. Although not performing at the level of the Tier 1 teams, they have improved dramatically recently and particularly over the course of the tournament. They gave Fiji (who played pretty poorly) a real run for their money and nearly a nasty shock, but Fiji overcame in the end and march on towards the quarter finals.

We hadn’t factored into our travel plans the time it takes to disgorge many hundreds of cars from a stadium car park, and so it was dark by the time arrived at the house in Arcachon. Much scrabbling around in the bushes to locate lock boxes ensued, before we managed to let ourselves into the property, by which time we were both very hungry (& possibly a bit on the tetchy side), you can’t live on picnic food alone. So we abandoned ship almost as soon as we’d arrived and went in search of sustenance, which we found in abundance in the centre of Arcachon. 2 pizzas and a couple of glasses of wine later (for me not Catering, who was driving) we were both much calmer, and up to the task of unpacking the BBT before heading to bed. It wasn’t until the next morning that I got a proper look at our new abode, and it was absolutely perfect for a lazy week with friends.

Just what the doctor ordered

A quick run to the Casino supermarket and we were all ready for the next week’s adventure, in which 10 go crazy in Arcachon. What could possibly go wrong?

Just can’t be left unsupervised for a minute – that’s a public fountain gentlemen!