PAISLEY TARTAN ARMY IN PARIS 2007

If I die & go to heaven I'll go as a happy man after we humped the French in Paris.

I have never ever felt the way I felt after the match, such a high!!!

We had the drama of the last twenty minutes which was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions & me with high blood pressure too!!

When the final whistle went the noise was incredible, we had just beaten France in their own backyard, it only sank in the following day when we woke up.

I'll never forget the satisfaction I felt that night, everything else

didn't matter, I was at peace with the world! Our adventure started off in the Classic Grand in Glasgow's Jamaica Street. The entertainment was provided by The Tartan Specials & Ronnie Browne, both were brilliant, free t-shirts, free beer, great music & the trip of a lifetime beckoned.

We marched off to Central Station led by Clanadonia up Argyle Street onto Hope Street & into the station itself, the songs were belted out at full volume as onlookers wondered what the hell was going on. We didn't wait long before the police let us on to our, ahem, "Dry Train," & we were off.

We found ourselves a nice wee seat where we could all sit together. We were fortunate enough to be sitting next to some really nice lads from Stirling, special mention to Big Solius, how you doin' pal.

The songs & the banter were flowing just as freely as the drink as we slapped it into Posh Spice big style, great fun.

A few weary soldiers tried to get some shut-eye but it was never going to happen!! We stopped at Preston for a wee while & a few of the troops got off the train to let the sleeping English know that we were in town.

We arrived at London's Waterloo Station very early in the morning all wearing our yellow t-shirts kindly donated by "Slanj"

What a site, early morning commuters must have thought that we were here at last to take over their country!!

We marched over the bridge & went across the Thames to the Walkabout bar who were going to supply us with a full English breakfast, what a letdown that was, a poached egg, a plum tomatoe, a hotdog chopped up & a small piece of toast, £7:50!! Aye right, back to the station for a McDonalds for £3, lovely.

We were soon going through the "Chunnel" & France beckoned. On arrival it was pretty much everyone for themselves & we made our way to the Metro to try & find our hotel, it ended up easier than I thought it would be, well done to the French, great way to get about Paris & it runs like clockwork.

Our hotel was ok, very basic but it was somewhere to sleep. After booking in we found a Yugoslavian Cafe right next door, they looked after us & their warm welcome was really appreciated, as were their baguettes!!!

On match day we headed off to the Eiffel Tower once more for our party before the game & what a sight, thousands upon thousands of Tartan Army basking in the sunshine.

Met the Ayrshire boys & had a great time with them, the banter was fantastic as was the Tartan Tottie on show. The Sun bus kept us entertained with some great music & we partied all afternoon in the sun.

Soon it was action stations as we prepared to leave for the march. Couldn't believe my eyes, as many as fifteen thousand were there for the walk to the stadium, what a sight.

We had a wee bit of time before the game, so a few more ales were supped & we met a few familiar faces too. Pretty soon it was time to take our seats for the big event itself & what an event it was. The National Anthems were superb as first the Scottish fans clapped along to theirs & then them to ours, fantastic!!

We managed to get a few beers at the game which was pretty cool, managed to spill most of it as well. The atmosphere was awesome, never experienced anything like it in my life & probably wont ever again, wonderful night for Scotland & I was there to witness it, superb.

After the game the French very sportingly applauded us out of the stadium, very nice touch. We decided to call it a night & make it back to our Yugoslavian hostelry for a baguette & a few beers, nice way to end the night. A wee sleep & we were all asking ourselves, "Did that really happen"

Time to pack & go home but not before we said cheerio to our Yugoslavian chums!! We ended up taking it very easy & sat outside all afternoon watching the world go by, well watching the Parisians woman go by if I'm honest, hope the wife doesn't read that bit!!!

Again, met some nice lads, banter was flowing & we were soon joined by two wee blonde females who were the subject of much of the banter, Louise & Leanne you were great sports & it was a pleasure to meet you.

The train journey home was a lot better than we thought it would be, our carriage was nice & quiet & some sociable drinking & swapping of stories was the order of the day.

Louise decided to make herself comfy beside the Paisley Tartan Army & very welcome she was as well as a few of the boys were beginning to forget they were wearing kilts, not what you want to see during the night staring back at you!!!

Glasgow beckoned & it was homeward bound & we all made our separate ways. & that was it, it was all over, just a memory but what a memory!!

I'd like to thank Croc & the team over at The Tartan Army Magazine for all their hard work in organising this trip, we met some old friends & made some new ones & I hope we made your trip just as enjoyable as you all made ours, thank you.



For higher resolution copies and lot's more of these photo's CLICK HERE

For more memories of Paris here's a ton of photo's with thanks to our good friends at the Famous Tartan Army Magazine
CLICK HERE

 

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