Coupe du Monde

Well, les Bleus are out of the Rugby World Cup, eliminated last night in the quarter-finals by reigning world champion South Africa.  It was a close and hard-fought match, so I am sure that the French fans are devastated.  Glenn and I, though, had a lovely evening rooting them on with a festive Saint Germain crowd, unencumbered by strong emotional ties to the team.  Here are a couple of scenes from the evening, a government building lit up in blue, white, and red, and the patrons in our restaurant with eyes glued to the screen in the back showing the France-South Africa game.

We struck up a conversation with the gentlemen at the next table, and they were surprised to find out that we were American.  "So, you don't really know much about rugby."  "Yes, that's right, but we're learning."  

We left the restaurant a few minutes before the half, to relinquish our seats to some of the more die-hard fans waiting.  Vehicle traffic on side streets had been blocked to allow for heavier pedestrian flow.  And, in fact, patrons had spilled out of many of the local restaurants and bars and were watching the game on screens set up on the streets, waving flags and singing (and drinking).  France scored just as we were exiting the restaurant, and a loud cheer went up all along the street.  I took a video of the festivities, and two women asked if I would send the video to them (since they were in it).  We effected the AirDrop, and Glenn and headed home.  

Once home, we followed the game on the internet and were disappointed when they lost.  Since France is the host country this year, we will still see and hear rugby fans for the next couple of weeks, but I imagine that the celebrations will be much more subdued going forward.