Lens, a small town in northern France, boasts a football stadium with a capacity larger than its population, but doesn't have a movie theater. A former mining strong hold, its main touristic and cultural attractions used to be world war I cemeteries and Europe's tallest slag heaps (known by their formal French name of base et terrils jumeaux du 11/19.) That all changed in 2012. That year, one of the world's most famous museums, the Louvre, opened an outpost in Lens, attracting some 900,000 visitors its first year of operation. While that's barely anything compared to the 8 million visitors that go through the Parisian museum each year, that's still very impressive. Lens is easily ...
Le Foot
My Picks For Watching The World Cup In DC
I can't believe this is going to be my third World Cup in Washington, D.C.! Well, technically, I was honeymooning in Peru during the 2006 tournament and I'll be in Brazil for most of this one. Nonetheless. I've definitely noticed a rise in soccer fandom in the District since I've moved here. There are SO many options now when it comes to watching the games and you can read all about them in lots and lots of articles and blog post (like this one, and this one and this one.) Overall, the best places to watch soccer in the area will always be Lucky Bar, Fado and Summers. But the World Cup is about SO much more than soccer. It's about countries. It's about being together as you watch the match ...
The 2014 World Cup Kicks off In Sao Paulo Today
It's not easy coming up with work appropriate World Cup outfits, but I think I nailed it today! Are you planning on watching the game tonight? ...
Soccer in the City at Yankee Stadium
Now, I’m not actually a Paris-Saint-Germain fan. I’ve never been to any of their games. I don’t think I’ve even watched one on TV either. I couldn’t name a single one of the players currently on the roster. But I am from Paris and for all intents and purposes, PSG is my home team. If they cross the Atlantic to play an exhibition match a few hours away from where I live now, you bet I’ll be right there in a spanking PSG(ish)-branded shirt I had a really hard time finding here in the US ;-) Friends for 15 years now, we have the same taste in macaron flavours, but not in football teams It was a night of firsts… My first time cheering for the Paris-Saint-Germain. My first time at ...
Et un, et deux et trois (cuatro) zero!
The Euro Cup 2012 is over, I can finally resume a normal, soccer-free life. I don't need to look back at the whole tournament, but here are a few of my thoughts following today's championship game: 1. The Spaniards are good. Like really good. Bottom line. 2. Italy didn't just lose. It was humiliated. I thought it would feel good see... I mean, I've been dreaming of a moment like this since the 2006 World Cup final. And yet, I felt kinda bad for the Azurri. Kinda... 3. The Spanish players have some adorable kids! 4. France is hosting the next Euro Cup in 2016 so Michel Platini got to hand Spain its trophy. Was Zidane too busy celebrating his 40th birthday to make it? Or did they think it ...
D.C. United vs Paris Saint Germain
Just announced: D.C. United will not face Italy's Juventus Turin for an international friendly at R.F.K. Stadium on July 28. Instead the black and red will host the red and blue aka: Paris Saint Germain (PSG). Tickets range between $32.25 and $75.05. Individual tickets can be purchased on ticketmaster. Obviously, I think that's awesome. Though I think it would have been even more awesome if they could have announced this game before I bought my tickets to see the PSG face Chelsea in another international friendly the week before at Yankee Stadium in New York ;-) Oh well, looks like I'll get to cheer for my home team twice in one week! ...
Allez Olé les Bleus!
It wasn't the qualification match I had dreamed of... far from it. Instead of crowing proudly as leaders of Group D into a quarterfinals (and anticipated 2006 World Cup final rematch) against Italy, Les Bleus embarassed themselves (yet again, insert at least we got off the bus jokes here) against Sweden and crawled into runner up status. We made the quarterfinals... but barely. And now we face a difficult game against World Cup Champion Spain. Oh well, Cocorico tout de même. Olé les Bleus? ;-) Looking for a place to watch the France-Spain (allez les bleus!!) on Saturday or Italy-England (Go ENGLAND!!!) on Sunday? I've updated my round-up of Euro Cup friendly spots. ...
Ain’t no party like an S Club a poutine party!
Sometimes back in 2011, the Canadian Embassy figured out that I wasn't actually Canadian. Initially I guess, my degree from McGill University got them confused and I somehow managed to get invited to a lot of great events, celebrating the Vancouver Olympics, Stanley Cup finals and Canada Day. But last year it all stopped. Le sigh. Where will I get my Molson fix now? ;-) Luckily, the Canadian Embassy is stepping up its game this year, and offering a lot of options for people who, like me, would like to celebrate our neighbours up north but aren't quite special enough to get official invites. Starting with... drumroll... DC's first-ever poutine party. Yes. Poutine party!! I haven't been to ...
Soccer in the City ~ Euro 2012 Edition
Last week, the husband and I attended our very first international football match. European football match that is. This was my second time ever at FedEx Field and my second time there for soccer. Back in 2009, I saw D.C. United get trounced 3-0 by Real Madrid. Trounced is a good word to describe what happened on Wednesday. The U.S.-Brazil match was more of a Where's Waldo vs. the Hulk than an even fight. But it was a great game. I loved seeing that at least 67,619 people in the D.C. area care enough about soccer to treck to Landover, MD. Of course, to put things into perspective, an average Redskins game draws in 75,000... but I digress... the game definitely put me in a soccer mood, which ...
Soccer in the City: Et un, et deux, et trois (et quatre) ze-ro!
The big stories coming out of day 3 of World Cup are: (1) Germany is looking good! As a Frenchie, of course, I cannot possibly admit that Germany looks good at anything. So I'm going to spin this one a bit and say that the Socceroos suckeroos looked really bad. Ghana is probably pretty excited to have them as their next opponent.(2) Yesterday, it wasn't easy being Green. Today, it wasn't easy being Faouzi! It seems when the teams are having a hard time scoring, goalkeepers can be a great help in opening the score. Following on Green's footsteps, Algerian keeper Chaouchi Faouzi did his part to allow Slovenia to move up to the top of Group C. Let's hope the Mexican goaltender takes note of ...