Aix-en-Provence, former Aquae Sextiae. Es easy to believe that it is mainly for purely practical and logistical geographical reasons that the general staff of the XV of France has taken the resolution to install its “second base camp”, to negotiate in The most productive are those two meetings in three weeks that will lead the Blues from Marseille to Lyon. However, despite all its side effects, the capital of Provence was an ideal destination, between its climate, its sweetness of life and its relative tranquility. that accompanies the Blues. ” We arrived on Sunday night, we had the possibility to take advantage of a large welcoming committee and we found out little by little, smiled the 3rd line Paul Boudehent. The position is really very good and necessarily takes a look to enjoy a bit of the surroundings letting us go, like a buoy following the tide. “
And it is precisely following the metaphor of the Rochelais that the Bleses have been gradually taking their mark, in particular granting themselves from Monday night a small outlet to the restaurants of the city, before the day off on Tuesday that allowed the Tricolores to relax. . If some have decided to move to the seashore, to Cassis or to La Ciotat, a clever component of the organization stays close to your hotel, strolling leisurely between the Cours Mirabeau and the magnificent old town, in an almost total anonymity that the blues appreciated. Crusaders as they walked at the foot of the statue of the elegant King René in the house of Baptiste Couilloud, François Cros and Thibaud Flament had fun. ” The people who approached us understood that we were players of the French national team, but they took us “We for Anthony Jelonch and Paul Boudehent”, they laughed. An anecdote that symbolizes quite well the interest of the locals, more involved in sports news through the setbacks experienced by Olympique de Marseille than by the presence of the BluesArray.
Seen on the terrace where he tasted a little sweetness at the foot of the statue of the elegant King René, touch specialist Karim Ghezal enthusiastically showed our first impression. ” Aix-en-Provence is a wonderful engagement for us. We enjoyed the climate of the south of France without being crushed by popular pressure, as might have been the case in a city of rugby enthusiasts. There is interest from other people, but it is quite manageable: at the foot of our hotel, there are about twenty more people. People wait for us to sign autographs and players play. Everything is done with respect, we don’t feel overwhelmed. And since the amenities are excellent, we can say that we are very smart here. . . “
Indeed, beyond the luxurious comforts of the Renaissance hotel, in the most sensible part of the Esplanade Mozart, Les Bleus were received like royalty on the site of the Carcassonne stadium, completely renovated for the occasion. “We would have liked to welcome the Blues to our school, but all our pitches are artificial and World Rugby needs a World Cup on natural grass,” Provence Rugby technical director Mauricio Reggiardo explained to us. As a result, over 10 months, the city corridor invested to build a 500 m² transitional educational domain on the site of the Carcassonne stadium, also redoing the entire grass and renovating the stands to completely rehabilitate the site. which will be transformed, after the passage of the Blues, into a “plain of grasses” that will soon be adorned with a hundred trees and which will become an educational place for the national delegations at the 2024 Olympic Games, the Carcassonne stadium It will also border the Yves-Blanc swimming pool (official). Olympic training center), from which the Blues obtain advantages in certain places. An exceptional place, therefore, heavily guarded, since the community got police officers to deny access to overly curious “journalists”. and espionage attempts by opposing teams, between caution and paranoia. . .