Let the games begin!

It seems right to preface our trip today, as we sit in our garden, 1st Friday beer just opened.
The 8th September 2023, the opening day of the RWC.

Planning for this trip started during our RWC 2015 trip around England and Wales. Previously a little ambivalent towards rugby (Sam), emotions got the better of me before the first game had started! The RWC 2015 opening ceremony paid tribute to the origins of rugby, focusing on William Webb-Ellis's rule break during a game of football to create a new game. It's widely publisised that the Webb-Ellis theory is a romantic myth, but you come to your own conclusion.
By the time our trip had finished we were looking to future tournament finals. Japan 2019 was deemed too complex with the added challenges of travelling with a disability. So, on 14th November 2017, when France pipped South Africa and Ireland to the upright we had the bones of a trip.
The preparation, imagination and trepidation of planning a trip is often excluded from travel yarns in this Insta age. We jump to the final page when a great deal of joy comes from the creating, the research, talking through plans with friends who drop in golden detour nuggets. Our stops are a blend of finely arranged days, right down to bus times and menu choices made; through to 'it'll be reet' visits where we will take the days as they come.
We will share the route before we leave these shores, a couple of weeks from now, and we hope you enjoy following our trip around France.

And now we are ready, the bags are yet to be packed but the itinerary, carefully woven around game days is created and printed.

Let the games begin!Read more