FRANCE LATEST

[ATLANTISMAN]

Evening Campers,

 

Just back home in Spain from Perpignan really fantastic day so here is the latest.

DRAGONS v TOULOUSE

Toulouse did well but run out of steam in the second half however i think (Maybe I am wrong they only used 17 players) Dragons maybe 20+ Toulouse with 3/4 new players are certainly not far off the Broncos from 3 seasons ago that picked up 10 wins in SL, i have certainly seen far worse squads in SL my prediction for what its worth is that 10/11 is a possibility.

MALONEY

Apparently very unlikely to want to go back playing in SL, the Dragons really wanted to keep him for this season. but he is happy with some part time footy and sightseeing:)

FRANCE v WALES

Looks good to go in Nantes in June (Told Luc that IMHO for what its worth maybe Rennes is a better shout however the president sees some history of RL in Nantes and a WC 2025 venue.

 

PERPIGNAN MAIRE 

A mess the National Front are determined to have the Dragons and USAP playing out of the same stadium (Both clubs NOT 100%) seems like many have moved from the North of France to the region over the last few years and football dominates so they are playing to the electorate.

Talking of which the old Marie for years kept in power by paying off the gypsies who number a good old voting chunk locally.

Walked back to the station after the match at a really brisk pace to catch the last train to Spain and made it by 10 mins town seems very run down doggie pooh everywhere drunks drugs etc (No doubt the vile NF played on this to win the last election) Interesting fact is that a huge amount of both Dragons and USAP fans now come from the region and not Perpignan itself.Sadly not the good old Perpignan that i once knew however the region is still wonderful.

 

Thats it for now folks sleep tight.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

 

[langpark]

4 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

FRANCE v WALES

Looks good to go in Nantes in June (Told Luc that IMHO for what its worth maybe Rennes is a better shout however the president sees some history of RL in Nantes and a WC 2025 venue.

Excellent and exciting news! And I agree with Lacoste, RL has had a presence in Nantes since the 1930s and until today. Rennes has no teams, so Nantes makes far more sense. 

[ATLANTISMAN]

8 minutes ago, langpark said:

Excellent and exciting news! And I agree with Lacoste, RL has had a presence in Nantes since the 1930s and until today. Rennes has no teams, so Nantes makes far more sense. 

The Rennes idea only came from yours truly as its on the fringes of Brittany and the idea was the Celtic connection however Luc has worked miracles with the local maries and for him its all about the long term plan which i 100% get:)

Paul

[John Rhino]

20 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Walked back to the station after the match at a really brisk pace to catch the last train to Spain and made it by 10 mins town seems very run down doggie pooh everywhere drunks drugs etc (No doubt the vile NF played on this to win the last election) Interesting fact is that a huge amount of both Dragons and USAP fans now come from the region and not Perpignan itself.Sadly not the good old Perpignan that i once knew however the region is still wonderful.

 

Thats it for now folks sleep tight.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

 

That makes rather depressing reading. We first went to Perpignan the first year dragons were in SL and commented how affluent people looked. 

The town had some grim areas (a few streets further up the main road from the current stadium looked like a war zone) and the place was always covered in dog . It was however a pleasant place but I've not been for four years now 

[ATLANTISMAN]

22 minutes ago, John Rhino said:

That makes rather depressing reading. We first went to Perpignan the first year dragons were in SL and commented how affluent people looked. 

The town had some grim areas (a few streets further up the main road from the current stadium looked like a war zone) and the place was always covered in dog . It was however a pleasant place but I've not been for four years now 

Maybe I am being a tad unfair i know the area well, however i was thinking to myself that living 50% of my time in Spain now to a place like Perpignan was night and day.

The outlying areas though are still wonderful but i am sorry to say that i find Perpignan nowadays pretty depressing.

 

Paul

 

[Jughead]

Perpignan has slowly got worse and more run down year-on-year since I first started going ten years ago, so it doesn’t surprise me it’s continued. Prior to the pandemic, there were countless shops boarded up and the locals weren’t as hospitable as they once were.

 

[RL Sonja]

Nantes is the better option.

Crucial RLWC 1954 tie France v Australia was played there. Rich history. 

[langpark]

Aside from the main stadium in Nantes (35k capacity) is there anything smaller that might be more suitable for the France vs Wales match? 

[Hvy wg]

11 hours ago, Jughead said:

Perpignan has slowly got worse and more run down year-on-year since I first started going ten years ago, so it doesn’t surprise me it’s continued. Prior to the pandemic, there were countless shops boarded up and the locals weren’t as hospitable as they once were.

 

It's a sh-hole. Nobody wants to live here anymore. We all have left to live to the smaller cities outside of Perpignan.

Because in order to be rule Perpignan you have to be well connected to the communities. It means you have to be at peace with the gypsies, the guys from Maghreb and the local Pied-noirs. Insuring never really is done to change anything as you can't upset any of those 3 groups.

 

[Jughead]

4 minutes ago, Hvy wg said:

It's a sh-hole. Nobody wants to live here anymore. We all have left to live to the smaller cities outside of Perpignan.

Because in order to be rule Perpignan you have to be well connected to the communities. It means you have to be at peace with the gypsies, the guys from Maghreb and the local Pied-noirs. Insuring never really is done to change anything as you can't upset any of those 3 groups.

 

It’s sad because it was very much a nice little city and like Rugby League, I’d like to see it return to its heyday but I’m not confident. 

I want to stay there because I feel like part of the problem but there’s so little to draw me there now, I think I’ll evaluate it yearly and see what I’m going to do. 

[Yakstorm]

1 hour ago, langpark said:

Aside from the main stadium in Nantes (35k capacity) is there anything smaller that might be more suitable for the France vs Wales match? 

There doesn't appear to be any other real options other than Stade de la Beaujoire unless we are going to play the game indoors at Parc des Expositions de la Beaujoire.

A 35K venue might not be too bad though if the FFRXIII plan to promote the match. 10 years ago at Lens we got just under 12K for France v Wales.

[Hvy wg]

58 minutes ago, Jughead said:

It’s sad because it was very much a nice little city and like Rugby League, I’d like to see it return to its heyday but I’m not confident. 

I want to stay there because I feel like part of the problem but there’s so little to draw me there now, I think I’ll evaluate it yearly and see what I’m going to do. 

Most of us move south to the Albères. It's peaceful and vibrant. Not too far away from the main places and just far enough to not have the Perpignan problems.

[langpark]

1 hour ago, Yakstorm said:

There doesn't appear to be any other real options other than Stade de la Beaujoire unless we are going to play the game indoors at Parc des Expositions de la Beaujoire.

A 35K venue might not be too bad though if the FFRXIII plan to promote the match. 10 years ago at Lens we got just under 12K for France v Wales.

I agree that this crowd can hit five figures, especially if the local govt. is supporting the event. I thought they might have a medium sized stadium in a city of its size, but no big deal if they don't. Better to be too big than too small. 

[Jughead]

1 hour ago, Hvy wg said:

Most of us move south to the Albères. It's peaceful and vibrant. Not too far away from the main places and just far enough to not have the Perpignan problems.

When I go again, I think my first port of call will be looking at Collioure, it’s great there. 

[oiseau]

9 minutes ago, Jughead said:

When I go again, I think my first port of call will be looking at Collioure, it’s great there. 

Yeah, Collioure is brill. 
I seriously thought about moving to Perpignan, remembering how it used to be only twenty years ago but watching it deteriorate over the years put me off big time. I settled for Albi with a few local xiii sides nearby and TO and Cats not too tricky to get to.

[Hvy wg]

Collioure is awesome but overcrowded in the summer and very very very expensive.

[ATLANTISMAN]

10 hours ago, Jughead said:

It’s sad because it was very much a nice little city and like Rugby League, I’d like to see it return to its heyday but I’m not confident. 

I want to stay there because I feel like part of the problem but there’s so little to draw me there now, I think I’ll evaluate it yearly and see what I’m going to do. 

Moved over the border in 2008 (We used to live in St Cyprien) it was the best decesion we ever made at least 30% cheaper as well (Now living  50/50 between Peralada and a small village in Kent)

For me its just in and out for the rugby and thats it the place is a dump and thats putting it mildly however love places like Vernet Le Bain etc and going there in the summer for mountain hiking when in Spain.

 

Paul

[welshmagpie]

On 29/01/2022 at 20:35, ATLANTISMAN said:

The Rennes idea only came from yours truly as its on the fringes of Brittany and the idea was the Celtic connection however Luc has worked miracles with the local maries and for him its all about the long term plan which i 100% get:)

Paul

Will this be at Nantes football ground mate? 

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, welshmagpie said:

Will this be at Nantes football ground mate? 

That’s a great stadium (have always taken an interest in Nantes as they’re Les Canaries), must hold well over 30k, as much as I’d love to see a RL international in a ground like that it wouldn’t look good with a few thousand rattling around inside. 

[ATLANTISMAN]

14 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Will this be at Nantes football ground mate? 

No idea Luc told me on Saturday that his preferred option was Nantes and that he was pursuing it.

I am now waiting for confirmation of the TV coverage.

 

Paul

[oiseau]

17 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Moved over the border in 2008 (We used to live in St Cyprien) it was the best decesion we ever made at least 30% cheaper as well (Now living  50/50 between Peralada and a small village in Kent)

For me its just in and out for the rugby and thats it the place is a dump and thats putting it mildly however love places like Vernet Le Bain etc and going there in the summer for mountain hiking when in Spain.

 

Paul

There is/was a  decent golf course at Saint Cyprien , it was for sale a few years back, I assume it was sold ?

[yipyee]

On 30/01/2022 at 10:10, langpark said:

I agree that this crowd can hit five figures, especially if the local govt. is supporting the event. I thought they might have a medium sized stadium in a city of its size, but no big deal if they don't. Better to be too big than too small. 

Interesting view as I would call 35k mid size

I would reserve 'large' for anything over 60k 

I think this is what UEFA do for the champions league final, large over 60k with the europa league at a medium - large venue?

[Damien]

55 minutes ago, yipyee said:

Interesting view as I would call 35k mid size

I would reserve 'large' for anything over 60k 

I think this is what UEFA do for the champions league final, large over 60k with the europa league at a medium - large venue?

In RL international terms I would certainly consider 35k large. This is particularly so in France.

[ATLANTISMAN]

3 hours ago, oiseau said:

There is/was a  decent golf course at Saint Cyprien , it was for sale a few years back, I assume it was sold ?

YES French American guy bought it around 2005 (I don't know if it has been sold) one of my work colleagues still lives there, here in Peralada we live on the golf course:)

BTW the French American who bought the place used to play for x111 Catalan before he immigrated to America hence why he sponsored the club:)

Paul

[Harry Stottle]

On 30/01/2022 at 11:30, Jughead said:

When I go again, I think my first port of call will be looking at Collioure, it’s great there. 

Prior to the pandemic, we were in the throws of purchasing a holiday home in Quillan, but when the travel restrictions came in we put it on the back burner, we have moved house over here in the meantime but could still resurrect the idea, has Quillan changed at all demographically in the last 3 years? I always thought it a good place to base for the rugby with Limoux, Perpignan and Carcassonne being easily accessible.