29th May - Toulouse (France)
The second tournament on the France tour, was a lot more relaxed in terms of draws. No silverware to be gain but pride still on the line. Some hard games against French national teams, hopefully some inside knowledge was gained to pass on to the Scotland Squad for Euro’s. Amazing hospitality and lots of fun had by all, a great way to finish off the trip.
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After a great start to our ‘Tour de France’ in Paris a handful of Superhanders decided to stay for a wee bit longer before heading down to our next tournament in Toulouse. Were we disappointed? Not in the slightest. With two packed cars, sore heads and drivers high on caffeine we embarked on a trip from bustling Paris to the picturesque town of Dordogne.
Despite the high pollen count that nearly killed off half the team, we saw beautiful castles and extraordinary views. Our home for the next few days was a huge tent and a single man tent for our resident snorer, Dave. Before you start wondering if he was ok being singled out all on his own, he was fine.
The Pyrenees was our next adventure with more breathtaking scenery including snowy mountains and gigantic waterfalls. Not only did we hike around the mountains, we also played ping pong (to death) white water rafted along the river (one went over bored, but thankfully she survived her death defying stunt), tasted the finest cheeses, ate scrumptious BBQ dinners, drank cheap but cheerful French wine, sipped on Spanish coffee, got far too delirious while settling down to sleep (ask Jane Leach for more details), humoured ourselves with tour quotes (the most infamous being ‘BULLS**T MY ARSE’ Confused? So were we) and finally we played touch rugby in Toulouse.
Most of us had forgotten that we were in France to play touch rugby after our adventure but thankfully our hosts, Toulouse Touch Rugby Club, got rid of all the cobwebs by challenging us to a barefoot game just as we arrived. Fun was had by all and our ever expanding bellies were filled with yet more tasty food and drinks.
Tournament day had arrived and we were all in high spirits. The sun was shinning, the beers were flowing (or rather inhaled by our happy go lucky Sidney from…no not Sydney but Brisbane) and the locals were friendly and cheerful. Five Scots, two Aussies, one Kiwi, one Jordie (no he’s not Irish), one Spaniard, one Welshie and one…lets just say British, but without the English bit, played their socks off. The tournament was a very relaxed competition that saw local teams play friendly games all afternoon with no overall winners. For match details please ask any of the other players as unfortunately I was concentrating too hard on figuring out what move ‘Get to the Sub Box!!’ was to see what was going on around me. (Thanks Dunkan for clearing up this misunderstanding.)
The evening entertainment surpassed all our expectations. Pasta, paella, stews, meat, cheeses, salads, and plenty of bread were served to every participant. (See how I remember more about the food than the actual playing?) We danced the night away in our kilts and lived up to our nation’s reputation before heading back to the hotel highly satisfied. The ‘Tour de France’ came to an end on the Sunday with everybody sadly packing up their belongings (well except for me who seemed to always be in the shower just at the right time) and made our way home to bonnie Scotland. A big ‘Thank You’ to our hosts who gave us plenty of memories and also to the trip organisers who happened to give us an adventure we won’t be forgetting for a long time (Cheesy..but accurate).
Team composition
Women: El (captain) Gillian, Jane, Lisa, Janette, Jo
Men: Doug, Rob, Dunkan, Dave, Fran, Sidney