Allez Les Bleus

I have caught world cup fever! It is hard not over here at the moment. I have been going out with a bunch of friends (half French, half Australians) to watch all the french matches (and originally the australian ones too). We went to a large Irish bar to watch the last match. The pub (along with every other pub in France I suspect) was packed to capacity. After the match everyone went completely crazy. It was insane, all the streets were completely blocked with people cheering, singing, lighting fireworks, letting of flares, blowing horns etc. Any cars that did try to drive down any main street ended up stopped in the crowd and often ended up with several french football fans standing on the roof, jumping. One of the favorite football chants here is "Qui ne saute pas n'est pas Français" which means, "he who doesn't jump isn't French". And of course whenever anyone starts this chant it is obligatory for everyone to start jumping around like crazy. This continued on the metro, which meant at every single metro stop everyone had to start jumping, causing the entire train to shake.



We finally battled the crowds and made it the Champs Elysees to join the party. The entire street, from the Arc de Triomphe all the way to Concord, was packed with people singing, dancing, shouting, blowing horns, playing music, letting off flares and fireworks and basically going nuts.



We decided to leave in time for the last metro and I had a bit of a walk home as my line was already closed. For the entire walk home all I could hear was the chanting of "Allez les bleus" and car horns and parties everywhere. Every square was filled with chanting fans for most of the night.

So now I am eagery awaiting the final on sunday. We haven't decided on a venue yet, possibly one of the many outdoor big screens.

Allez les bleus!