Harris Sports News
Orleans 2002
During the first week of May, a
party of S2 and S3 boys travelled to the French city of Orleans to take
part in a rugby tournament. This is a description of the trip, written by
one of the participants
MONDAY 29th APRIL
We were all in good spirits as we waved goodbye to our family and friends. For the next 22 hours, the coach was going to be our home. In the evening, we were tiring a little and the good mood was fading into a relaxed one. Some passed the time by reading a book, listening to music and some managed to get some sleep.
TUESDAY 30th APRIL
During the early hours of the morning, we reached the white cliffs of Dover where we were to board the 6 o'clock ferry to Calais. During the ferry crossing quite a number of our party felt seasick but none thankfully were sick. As we drove through the flat sunny lands of France, we were all quite relaxed. As we pulled up to the Orleans football stadium/hostel we all felt a rush of excitement and were eager to look around the area and familiarize ourselves with our new surroundings.
Wednesday
1st May - Tournament Day
As
we woke up the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. During the
day, we played a total of 7 games in 8 hours, of which we won 3, lost 2 and drew
2. The weather varied a lot during the day. At times it was blistering sunshine
and the rest of the time it was lashing down with rain - there was even a
thunderstorm at one point. Our first game was against the national champions
Orleans A. The Harris team played excellently but we sadly lost, however later
in the day we picked up our form and began playing as a strong team. Overall we
came 13th out of our age group. The team were a little disappointed but were
pleased with our overall performance. Our opponents are all playing at club
level so I think we should be pleased with the result.
THURSDAY
2ND MAY
We were all sore from the hard work the day before as we went to the city chambers for the civic reception in our shirt, tie and trousers. We listened to the speeches in English and French in which we thanked the organizers for their extreme hospitality for the 3rd year running; we looked around the extraordinary building before doing some light shopping in the Orleans town centre.
FRIDAY
3rd MAY
We
were all off to the most famous city in France, Paris. In Paris we were given
about 5-8 hours to spend in the city where we could do things like go to the
Eiffel tower or go shopping for souvenirs for loved ones back home. That night
we boarded the ferry for Dover, which was a few hours earlier than intended. Yet
again, the weather had been as beautiful as ever.
SATURDAY 4th MAY
We
arrived back in Britain safely and progressed up north fairly quickly. Many
slept on the journey back so there was not much in the way of conversation.
On
behalf of the team we would like to say thank you to all who played a part in
organizing the trip.
PS
We are all too old to play next year - Do you think you can find teams in France
to play over 15's so that we can go again next year?
To see many more pictures of the event click on page 2 of the link below.