24 hours in Lyon ..... part1

I have already shared the 2^nd half of my 24 hours in Lyon with some culture and food, the first half was a little different and evolved around a game of rugby. My trip was planned to attend the European Champions Cup Final between Saracens and French team Racing Metro.

This was Saracens 2^nd time reaching the Final of this championship, having lost to Toulon in Cardiff at the last final, so there was much to play for in France. When Saracens won their semi-final I was on the internet immediately booking tickets for Eurostar and the game as I knew with Racing metro securing the other spot it would be incredibly popular. This game would also allow me to see one of my rugby hero's Dan Carter who now plays fly half for Racing after leaving New Zealand and the All Blacks after the world cup.

With the weather a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers it would make for a greasy game. The game was being held at the newly built Stade de Lyon stadium on the outskirts of the town. The main public transport to and from the ground is via tram, which was much fun and a first for me to travel to a from a rugby game in. One of the things that I noticed lots when I was travelling to and around Lyon is the poppies dotted everywhere. I saw lots from the Eurostar as I travelled across France and it really struck a chord to see them. There were several blooming around the ground which many fans commented on as we walked to the game.

I arrived at the game early as I had been told to expect lengthy security checks and they didn’t lie, aside from the Olympics this was the lengthiest checks that I had ever had at a game; including a full body pat down. Arriving at the game early allowed me to see Jonny Wilkinson being interviewed by Will Greenwood and the squads warming up between the very heavy rain showers. This also allowed me to spend lots of time gazing at Dan Carter and his thighs as Racing were warming up near to where I was sitting!.

Having purchased my ticket from the French ticketmaster I found myself surrounded by Racing fans who were very friendly and not too hostile as the game commenced!

With a fanfare of fireworks the game kicked off at 5.30 to a huge roar from the crowd. The ground was a sea of blue with pockets of red and black for the Saracens fans.

 From previous experience final games are usually tight fought contests, with neither side wanting to take too many chances, thus preventing conceding penalties and points. This game was much of that with both teams holding tight to the ball and points being gained from penalty kicks instead of trys.

All points scored by Sarries coming off of the boot of Own Farrell. Racing always seemed to be on the back foot and were penalised a number of times. With heavy rain during the warm-up hour it made for a slippery and greasy game with the ball being lost by both teams several times.

 2^nd half saw Racing attempt a comeback and at one point with minutes to go I thought that they may push a try across the line, however the Sarries boys held their nerve and defence and were crowned champions as the final whistle blew.

Huge celebrations took place as the Champions cup was presented and red & black flags waved around the stadium to roars of "Sarries". Here are some images from the game and the after celebrations.

The atmosphere was amazing and I am so glad that I made the journey from home to Lyon to watch the game, I got to see so many Rugby heroes: Jonny Wilkinson, Dan Carter and Sarries lift the Champions cup a bit of a dream weekend for a Rugby girl.

24 hours in Lyon .... part 2

Last weekend I spent 24 hours in the beautiful old city of Lyon in France.  Lyon sits a couple of hours south of Paris by train and is in France’s Rhône-Alpes region. It sits at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. Its city centre reflects 2,000 years of history, with a Roman amphitheatre in Fourvière, medieval and Renaissance architecture in Vieux Lyon, and the modern, redeveloped Confluence district on the Presqu'île peninsula between the rivers. With only a short time in the city and predominately there for a game of rugby I had to be very selective on what I wanted to visit and see.

My trip started at St Pancras where I boarded a Eurostar bound for Marseille which stopped at Lyon and Avignon. St Pancras is my favourite station in London, the architecture, light and ambience of the space is just stunning. Arriving early I ambled around enjoying the relative quiet of the station, even thou there was some people around. St Pancras Station was opened in 1868 and is one of the wonders of Victorian engineering, it is a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic Architecture and one of the most elegant stations in the world. It has seen huge decline and restoration over the past 30 years and is now the hub for all Eurostar international travel. How amazing must it be to arrive in London for the 1^st time via train and see this beautiful building and hotel.

With a simple check-in and boarding we were soon departing London heading for the Channel, I had when booking my tickets managed to grab a Business premier ticket for the same cost as standard fare. This was a little luxury for what would be 4½ hours on a train. With a complimentary breakfast, drinks and magazines the time flew and we were soon pulling into Lyon Gard de Nord to disembark.

Saturday was predominately filled with the rugby which left no time for exploring, however Sunday dawned bright and dry and before I headed back to the UK on the afternoon train I wanted to explore this city a little more. A lovely lady who I had met on the train advised me on 2 things; if time is limited then the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is a must for beauty, culture and history and as Lyon is renowned for its food then you must visit the farmers / food markets that run alongside the 2 rivers within the city on a Sunday morning.

With my hotel next to the metro I jumped on a train and headed to the old town of Fourvière, where I then picked up a ride on the Funicular (a tram/cable car carriage which cuts through the cliffs up to the top of the hill) to the Basilica. Perched on top of the Fourvière hill, the basilica looms impressively over the city of Lyon, from where it can be seen from many vantage points; not unintentionally, the basilica of Fourvière has become a symbol of the city. As impressive as the basilica is from the outside, nothing prepares you for how stunning it is from the inside. The ceiling, guilt work and stained glass windows are just beautiful. I arrived half way through the morning mass and it was lovely just to sit at the back and enjoy the hymns, and the ambience of the space.

Exiting the basilica the views from the grounds are impressive across the 2 rivers and town. Leaving behind this gorgeous old town I headed down the cliff and across the river to enjoy the food market. The market was fabulous, filled with the most delicious aromas, produce, groceries and flowers. It was a tempting treat and I created a picnic breakfast/brunch of fresh treats; pain au chocolate, nectarines, apricots, and coffee to enjoy sitting on the river bank. I also bought some cheese, apple tart and fruits to bring home along with a beautiful bunch of peonies.

It was soon time to head to the station to pick up my train to Paris, where I then boarded the Eurostar home. I really enjoyed Lyon and would definitely visit again, especially as the train is really easy and also has great train links to other locations including South of France, Geneva and Barcelona.

Goodbye October ..... Hello November

How can it be November?.... I'm not sure where 2015 is going but October has passed in a swirl of falling leaves, autumnal nights and lots and lots of scrummy thing!
October really is one of my favourite months and I have tried to enjoy every day and celebrate the season of autumn.
> October started with some gorgeous evenings and I took complete advantage by exploring the streets of London whilst walking to the station.
> Starbucks launched their Pumpkin latte's in gorgeous autumnal cups.
> London streets looked lovely with their falling leaves.
> Rugby fever still prevalent at my desk during October with pool games concluded it was time for the Big Boys games and gazing at Dan Carters thighs!
> I spent lots of time out doors in October and enjoyed walking, reading and soaking up the autumnal sunshine and falling leaves.
> Cats had much fun with munchkins and conkers in October as well as lots of snuggles.
> Walk to work continued with new routes found and scenery enjoyed from on foot.
> Bake days got a little spooky in the month, when I made this Gryffindor cake for a Harry Potter friend for her birthday.
> With gorgeous autumnal days I spent some time tidying at the cemetery and celebrating Nans birthday.

> Nothing lends itself to the halloween week than the side alleys and streets of Southwark and Borough market. The Victorian lights and artistically lit tunnels are perfect to create that spooky vibe.

> October saw the big yellow store turn blue & gold for a journey to the stars for Christmas.
> Much fun with the build up to the launch of the 24th Bond movie - Spectre. Saw the movie on night of release and will share my thoughts over the next week.
> spent a couple of Saturdays at the rugby watching the All Blacks which was just amazing, here is my Rugby world Cup adventures in full!
> enjoyed all of the sights of the season from the changing & falling leaves to having some pumpkin fun.
October saw be participate in an instagram daily for autumn which I enjoyed .. find out how I got on here.
Much fun in the scrum with these gorgeous men in the month!











October culminated in the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup, seeing New Zealand meet Australia in the final. I'd called the final 18 months ago when the pool games were released and thought these 2 mighty teams would meet. There could only be one winner on the day and I am thrilled that the All Blacks retained the trophy and showed the world that they are the best team. with 2 of their legendary greats bowing out after the final, it was a fitting end to the careers of Dan Carter and Richie McCaw.
An amazing end to a fantastic month. Here's more of my adventures from previous months.
Looking forward to seeing what November brings.

RWC adventure 2015

Today sees the culmination of 44 days of rugby, when the 2 best teams of 2015 meet in the World Cup final for the first time. This afternoon New Zealand All Blacks take on the Australian's to lift the Web Ellis trophy.
I have had a fabulous world cup adventure, which has seen me meet some rugby icons and heroes.
I have been fortunate to go to a number a games and had a fabulous time.
 My world cup adventure kicked off at the beginning of September when I went to the premiere of Building Jerusalem in London where I met Jonny Wilkinson and some of the winning world cup 2003 squad, Martin Johnson, Matt Dawson & Sir Clive Woodward.
The film and evening was fantastic and kicked off the campaign and my rugby adventures perfectly.
My adventure continued a week later when I joined 20,000 others to wish the England squad well with their campaign at the O2.
The squad's send-off was hosted by Vernon Kay and entertainment provided by a number of artists along with Take That headlining the #WeartheRose event.
The evening was a lot of fun and really set the atmosphere and excitement for the cup kicking off.
I had been lucky enough to secure a number of the pool game tickets and looked forward to seeing some great games and a few of my rugby heroes & icons.
The fun continued the day before the opening ceremony whilst rushing through Waterloo station I saw the gorgeous Dan Carter - fly half for the All Blacks and one of my Rugby dream team!.  As the brand ambassador for MasterCard he was launching their priceless #44daysofrugby campaign.
An England ticket was never in my budget for the campaign so can you imagine how thrilled I was to be gifted a corporate ticket for the Opening ceremony.
I arrived at Twickers just in time to see my other rugby hero carry the Webb Ellis trophy into the stadium. Touching distance to both!!
Amazing night and a great show to start the campaign.

A weekend of rugby followed with me attending the France v Italy game at Twickenham.
A lively, noisy game full of passion.
My next game moved to east of the capital at the Queen Elizabeth Park so see the All Blacks take on Namibia. - Highlight seeing a Haka in real life.

Fantastic night, saw Namibia score a running try against the All Blacks lifted the stadium.
QE stadium is a great venue and look forward to visiting it again when West Ham take up residence next season.
Also saw a lot of Dan Carter, who was water boy and ball boy pre-game.
Instagram photo's proved a hit with many, along with the great man himself.

September continued with more pool games and much excitement, who would have thought that Japan would beat South Africa so successfully, and that the underdog nations would put on such a great show. When I was offered an England / Australia ticket I jumped at the chance to go, this was England's last chance to qualify and odds were split either way.
After a morning at my desk, I headed to Twickenham to watch Robshaw and the squad play the game of their lives.... alas it wasn't meant to be and the host nation bowed out of the Rugby World cup campaign.

My final game of the tournament was a Semi Final ticket - which saw the All Blacks meet the Springboks at Twickenham, New Zealand v
South Africa.... media bud as one of the closest games of the cup.
The atmosphere was electric, with a full capacity stadium, amazing from start to finish.
The weather was grim, but this did not stop any of the action on or off  the pitch. Kicking off with a roar inducing Haka and a pyrotechnic spectacle.

With the Bok taking the lead and holding it through the 1st half the All Blacks went to the half time behind; the first time in the tournament.
Richie McCaw led his men out early for the 2nd half and they soon turned the tables on the Bok. Highlight of the night seeing Dan Carter score a phenomenal drop kick goal.
With trys and conversions on the score board, the All Blacks soon pulled back the deficit and took the lead. The joy on the squads faces was evident when the final whistle blew.
Here my world cup adventures came to an end and I now look forward to watching the All Blacks take on the Aussies in what will be a fantastic final to a great tournament.

Haere ra to an All Black icon ...

Tomorrow one of the most successful and iconic rugby players of the last 12 years will hang up his international boots and All Black jersey. He has so far scored 63 points in this world cup (including a fabulous drop kick goal against the Springbok) and a record breaking 1,579 in an All Blacks shirt, he has also scored 29 trys and has been capped 111 times.
He will tick off the only accomplishment that he is yet to achieve in his incredible career and that is to play in a Rugby World Cup final. The player is of course Dan Carter ~ New Zealand All Black number 10 fly-half. He alongside Jonny Wilkinson are my Rugby heroes and I am thrilled to have seen both during my Rugby World Cup 2015 adventure.

My Rugby adventures with DC started on the day before the  Rugby world cup kicked off when I was hurrying through Waterloo station.
Dan was at the station with MasterCard, who had turned the station oval as one of the big sponsors of the cup and launched their #44daysofcrazy
He was lovely and I was thrilled to see him in real life!... Having watched him play on TV for many years, I was a little excited!

My 2nd encounter was at the New Zealand / Namibia game at the Olympic Park in Stratford.
Was a little disappointed to see that Carter had been rested for the squad line-up for the game. However my disappointment lifted when the No 10 with those gorgeous thighs ran out to train with the squad pre -game. Loved the game, seeing the Haka and the iconic Richie McCaw on the pitch.
My DC montage on instagram has proved popular, with the man himself liking the post! ( was a little giddy when this flashed on my phone during a meeting!!)
Dan has kept his fans updated on both twitter and instagram during the campaign with some fun & rugby. Loved seeing some of the all black boys travelling on the tube, greeting fans and taking the rise out of the 'tee-boy'
It also gives an insight into what this tournament has meant to him, from being selected for the squad, through to reaching the final.

 I am sure that there will be hearts breaking all across NZ and the world tonight when this guy along with Richie McCaw and others hang up their All Black boots for the last time.
Undoubtedly  he is responsible for a legion of female fans taking up following rugby!... he is without a doubt one of the most gifted players and I feel lucky to have seen him play in an All Blacks shirt.
He really does put the "Scrum" into Rugby  in so many ways!! and will miss these promotional shots from his all black 'jockey; campaigns!
DC will finish his career in France with Racing Metro and I am looking forward to travelling to Paris to see him play next year and wish him continued success in his next rugby adventure.
I have loved following and being part of this World cup ... here's some more of my adventures here. including the opening ceremony and bumping into my other rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson, another No 10 icon.

A night with the All Blacks .....

whilst sitting watching the All Blacks on TV playing Georgia at the Millennium stadium I thought I would share my night at the Olympic Park stadium watching them play Namibia.
New Zealand obviously the firm favourites to retain the World Cup this year and as a rugby fan any opportunity to see this epic squad play I will take.







With 2 of the worlds greatest players in the squad in Richie McCaw and Dan Carter.
Richie is the most capped test player of all time, captain of the All Blacks and is in his 14th year with the New Zealand team and been captain for 9 years, playing predominately in the 8 position, open side flanker.
Dan Carter is one of the best No.10's in the world and is the highest scorer in test match history. This will be his last world cup as he retires from international rugby after the world cup (separate blog post to come!)

Alas Dan wasn't in the squad for the Namibia game, but to my joy he was part of the warm-up activity before the game started! so lots of opportunity to grab some pictures.







Another plus for the evening was that the team captain for Namibia is Jacques Burger who currently plays for Saracens and is one of my favourite Sarries players.
With the Olympic Park stadium looking glorious inside out and showcased fabulously with a stunning sunset and with music accompaniment from the Irish Coldstream Guards it was time for the fun to begin.

Squads led out to huge light and pyrotechnics and a sold out Olympic park stadium on the feet.

As with all All Black games no game kicks off without a Haka - (A haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge of the Māori people of New Zealand ) here is the Haka which was performed on the night.

The Game kicked off and within minutes New Zealand had points on the board, however Namibia played with huge heart and passion and the crowd were soon cheering the underdog.

Loved the flag asking the All Blacks to be kind! Namibia didn't make it easy for NZ and even scored a running try against the team, which was a huge achievement for such a little team.

 

 Namibia played with heart and soul until the 80th minute and although beaten 58/14 the score didn't reflect the passion and willingness to win from the Namibia boys.

 I had a great evening at the Olympic Park and my Rugby World cup adventures so far have just been fabulous.

 Here are some previous adventures from my rugby world cup journey so far.



My Rugby World Cup adventure continues.....

Last Saturday in the haze of a glorious autumnal afternoon I returned to Twickenham for my 2nd Rugby World Cup adventure. Saturdays game was France v Italy. This allowed me to enjoy the atmosphere of the event and grounds without stressing about the outcome!.
The stadium looked fantastic against the blue sky, festooned in flags and world cup collateral.
I arrived into the Fanzone just in time to watch the South Africa & Japan game which was just amazing. Nearly every supporter at Twickenham rooting for the under-dogs of Japan. The whole place erupted when Japan slotted the ball over the try line with seconds to spare of the final whistle.
The ground had a great relaxed atmosphere with a huge multi national attendance along with lots of passionate French and Italian fans. This was even more evident when the team buses arrived bringing in the French and Italian squads.

With a great seat facing onto the pitch by the 22 line I got a great chance to watch the teams warming up.  It was very evident that warm-up disciplines were very different within the French and Italian camps!

As with the previous evenings opening ceremony the world cup banners were escorted onto the pitch by members of the armed forces and the entry of the teams were preceded by a fantastic light and laser show.
With national anthems sung with passion & pride and Twickenham stadium full to the rafters for a 2nd consecutive night it was time for the game to begin!

The game was lively and involved lots of ruck's and scrums! Italy were the underdogs of the match and France soon overpowered the team, much to the delight of the very noisy French fans.
With the final score of 32 to France and 10 to Italy it was time to head home after a great afternoon and with less stress than the day before!.