Robyn and Gareth's (mis?)adventures...

Game 1: NZ vs Italy (6 September 2007) - Marseille

Gareth arrived on Thursday afternoon and found himself a few people he knew (not a surprise at all really...) So he did a bit of sightseeing, drinking, eating and sunning himself (we love the Med!).

And a funny story...Robyn wasn't meant to be going as this was a 'boys trip', but someone pulled out so she got to go in the end (and was just a tad excited!!). Flights were horrendously expensive and the cheapest option was the last flight into Marseille before the game started. Just so you know, the flights back was fine! Thanks to the excellent English weather her flight was delayed and she arrived while the anthems were being sung looking very hot and sweaty having just legged it from the nearest train station. But she made it so that was the main thing!

1. View from our seats - it was brilliant watching rugby in glorious sunshine! Robyn even got a tan!!
2. Chris Jack Try
3. Doug Howlett Try

Marseille had a wicked carnival-like atmosphere, not like anywhere we had been before for a rugby match. The whole city was behind the World Cup and everyone was really welcoming. In a nutshell, we had a great time and caught up with loads of people we hadn't seen in ages.

1. Marseille Waterfront
2. All Black Trees in the middle of town
3. This street was renamed Rue de Rugby
4. Gareth annoying a local... (why are there always model animals in the streets of European cities?!)

On the Sunday we did a boat trip down the eastern coast, which was gorgeous and made us want to stay there!

It was filled with hundreds of little bays which were crammed full of boats and people. No idea how they all got there but was so peaceful and beautiful.

Game 2: NZ vs Scotland (24 September 2007) - EdinburghA bit of a change from Marseille, slightly colder and greyer, but thousands of kiwis made their way north. We saw so many people we knew...crazy times.
No funny stories this time; everything went according to plan thank goodness.

View from our seats at Murrayfield

And I had to put this one in...

Game 3: NZ vs ? in a semi-final - Paris
Well...it didn't go according to plan. We lived through watching the AB's lose in a pub full of English cheering for the French (something you don't see everyday) and we survived all the emails and jibes. Robyn had to sell her ticket to an English rugby supporter and made a nice little profit on the side; we then had to change our tickets. So we are now going to Prague instead! Yay for us!!!!

Just a short break in Paris this time. We stayed in a lovely hotel about 1 km from Champ des Mars and ate and drank and walked ourselves through the weekend.

After our last trip to Paris (in winter) and the fact that you couldn't even see the top of the Eiffel Tower, this time it was a beautiful summers day and we decided to make the most of it!

I've got to say that after Level 2 I really didn't like being on a piece of metal a couple of hundred meters up in the air, but I got to the top and have the white knuckled smiling photos to prove it!
Point to note - if you walk up to Level 2, it's cheaper and there are less queues and if there is one, it moves quicker than all the others!

And the view is always spectacular...

Later that day (after a siesta) we took a river cruise down to Notre Dame and had the most amazing dinner. It was this little pub but we can't work out if it was actually really old or just made to look old. Anyway, we got gibbed as they saw 'tourists' coming and gave us a set menu of about 5 courses. Best bit was the starter where they literally give you baskets of vegetables and meats, a knife and a chopping board and you hack away to your hearts content.

We rolled home, but stopped to take more photos and I thought this one was a goodie.

Our other task for the weekend was to go into the Louve. Unfortunately we didn't get there until 11am and as its free the first Sunday of the month the queues were massive. Given it was about 30 degrees at the time we decided we were far too sensible to stand in the sunshine for an hour and went to leave...but then we found a side entrance (excellent!!!!). So we got into the Louve for free and without queuing!!! Managed to fight our way through to see the necessary exhibits and then left the crowds to it.

We found some nice sights on the way...

1. Musee d'Orsay
2. River Seine