Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

ON TO FRANCE 13th March 2008

We were up early this morning, AT 05:30am, and we were soon packed up and out on the road. Our flight was due to leave Nicosia at 9:00am, and we thought we were flying direct to Paris, France. This was not the case!

Before take-off, I don't think anyone had mentioned would be getting a 40 minute layover on the way. We stopped in the Greek city of Thesaloniki, the second largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia. I have to admit that I looked this up. We only saw a little of the city, mainly what we saw as we flew over top, but it definitely looked really pretty. I will have to go back one day.

We arrived late in Paris, thanks to strong headwinds from the large storms they have been having. in Europe. Most of the gales and damage have been in Britain, but France has suffered too. The late arrival meant that we were only packed up into our bus and on the road by about 2:30pm, or 3:30pm for us on Cyprus time. With all this traveling and delay, we were all ravenous, and there was no food in sight.

Even worse, the drive to Senart, the city where we are staying, was longer than expected. It was not until 4:15pm that we arrived, and by then, we were starving. Our last meal before departure was at 06:45 am.. The food they gave us on the 'plane doesn't count. .. food on the plane doesn't count. There were more problems. This hotel has never hosted a sports team before, so they had a big surprise when they provided a snack and it was rapidly reduced to crumbs, and even those were being scraped off the plates.

At 5:30 pm, we we boarded back on the bus for Robert Bobin stadium, which is where we will be playing France tomorrow. We jogged around for a bit, before doing a long session of stretching. To tell the truth, it felt good to be moving. Everyone was a little delirious from fatigue and hunger, so there was plenty of hysterical laughter from time to time. What caused it? Who knows. Everyone knows about girls and giggles.

When we came back from practice it was straight off the bus and into team dinner. Wonderful. This time the hotel kitchen staff was prepared for us and our appetites, and brought out a ton of food. This is France, land of gastronomy after all! We made a really big dent in it all. We started with French bread and butter, tomatoes, salad and soup. The main course was a huge steak each - not so much fun for the remaining vegan, but everyone else loved every last bite.

We had a quick meeting after dinner, and then all headed off to our rooms and bed. Even though it is only 9:00 pm, we are all completely done in.