Ly-on-nais, la la la…

St Etienne played Lyon last weekend in what’s known as ‘The Derby.’ The rival teams played in St Etienne and Sim was pretty excited to get tickets. I thought about tagging along until I read in the paper that St Etienne and Lyon, along with Nice, Bordeaux and Montpellier, are the clubs most affected by hooliganism in France!

St Etienne is in the department of Loire, while Lyon is in Rhône. If you remember from previous blog posts,

1. Cars have their department number on their number plates – cars from Loire have a 42 and cars from Rhône a 69; and,
2. Sim barracks for St Etienne. 

With this in mind, Sim tells me that the Stéphanois (St Etienne supporters) are known to search for cars with 69 on their number plates and vandalise them. Which is potentially unlucky for him, as he lives in Rhône!

Check out this video of the OL bus arriving at Stade Geoffroy Guichard. Warning – rude fingers! I can’t help but wonder what the players do in response…

Yes I know it’s tame in terms of hooliganism, but hey – it’s You Tube! I won’t translate the chants though, because my blog may get shut down!

Bisous!

PS. Lyon won – in the final minutes, with a goal from ex-Stéphanois, Bafétimbi Gomis – but I’m not allowed to say that out loud!

Allez les verts…

I was baptised in the cauldron last weekend. No, I haven’t turned to religion or witchcraft – I went to my first Saint Etienne (yes, ASSE…) match at Stade Geoffroy Guichard, which is nicknamed ‘The Cauldron.’ St Etienne played Bordeaux in the French Cup, a national competition in which every soccer club in France can compete.

Action! Note the stadium work underway for the 2016 European Cup.

Crowd antics were just as, if not more, interesting than the match! I learnt lots of new songs, well, lots of ways to chant ‘Allez les verts’ to different tunes and as smoking isn’t taboo, I passively smoked a packet of normal cigarettes and 4 funny ones!

Allez les verts…to the tune of When the Saints go Marching In, Auld Lang Syne and even Tetris!

Bordeaux scored around the 30 minute mark and, with 4 minutes extra time, St Etienne around the 93 minutes and 58 seconds mark! Bring on another 30 minutes in which noone scored, then the penalties. Bordeaux won. But I’m not allowed to say that out loud!

Bisous!

It’s just not footy

It’s football. Not soccer. The players are ridiculously skilful but wouldn’t last 5 minutes in an AFL match. Lyon’s professional team are called Olympique Lyonnais and they’re strong, finishing third last season and taking part in the Champion’s League this season.  Hugo Lloris is the goal keeper. Best in the league, and captain of the French team. I even wrote a petit texte about him in class!

When I asked Sim how to spell Lyonnais, he told me I could just write Olympique Tapettes, which is a not very nice word for gay men. Which he thinks the whole team are. He, like most of his friends and family, supports Saint Etienne, who are not quite so strong these days, finishing 10th last season.  Although they do have the most supporters, apparently. And the star means that they’ve won 10 French championships, the only French club to do so. Loïc Perrin is the captain. Best looking player in the league, and I wrote a blog post about him!

Yes, yes I know. ASSE.

Bisous!

Maybe I could like soccer…

I’m really not that into the soccer, but it’s hard to be completely ignorant of something Sim lives and breathes! Especially when Saint Etienne’s captain, even though he’s out with a knee injury, looks like this…

Loïc Perrin. Hello.

But my favourite remains, even though he’s out for the season with a knee injury too, the number 10 for ASSP!

Bisous!