Matchday X Preview and Postmortem

Somehow the preview got lost amid tot duties. The boy appears reluctant to go to sleep before very late.

He eventually did - obviously - but I figured that I needed some sleep before venturing off to play on Saturday morning. The rendez-vous with the team captain was at 8.15am at Porte de Montreuil.

That effectively meant I had to be at Republique before 8.

The location was way out in the countryside. 30 kilometres from Paris and there was bucolic bliss aplenty.

Good that aspect was available as the football was painful to watch from the sideline.

I sacrificed myself for the first half - fearing my leg would not last. I also figured that as we were playing the bottom team I might not have to do anything at all.

Wrong. it was 0-0 at half time and they were aided by the failure of the officials to award a goal. Apparently the ball went over the line twice but the referee didn't give it either time.

Ho hum. You can imagine that went down badly.

We eventually won 1-0 but it was edgy. Hardly imperious stuff. But at least the surroundings were pleasant and reminded me somewhat of the previous Saturday when I was in England.

It was good to get out and play too rather than watching.

The Whirl

I was back in Paris before I really had time to know I was in London. On the one hand this is a testament to modern communications and railway engineering.

But on the other hand it rather undermines the basis for a blog on Paris and London since I barely register London.

Next week I have a Sunday night and Monday night to savour the place of my birth. Ach Heimat.