After
4 flights, a bus ride from Spain, donkey caravan into South France and a hike
up a mountain in a blizzard, we finally arrived, at in Montpelier, ready to
wind down our travel-weary bodies. Well, I may have exaggerated on the travel
details—there was no mountain and no donkeys, but there were a couple of
flights and a bus ride, and it certainly felt like we were on the road for
days.
France thus far has been
wonderful. The food has been excellent, and I am getting spoiled by the
espresso. There are a few staples at every mean—chicken, fish, beets, bread and
cheese—and there is an espresso machine around every corner in our hotel and we
have been helping ourselves.
We haven’t
really explored much, though we practiced at a rugby club about a half hour
from Montpelier that had a gorgeous facility set in the rolling hills of South
France. The wonderful part has been the rugby and my lovely teammates. There
are some old faces (a good number in the Over 30 club) and some new
personalities, who are fitting right into our team dynamic.
On the
rugby side, we’ve been having some great sessions. We all seem to be getting
the system down and our defense looks solid. We’ve had some great lineout sessions
in our practices, and we had the chance to scrum with the French side a bit
yesterday. Our set pieces are something with which we struggled in Utah at the
Super Series, and we’ve been working on them here in France.
On the
team side, there have been some spirited games of Bananagrams, some great
bonding time, and a player who seems to be the victim of a peanut conspiracy.
Benson has been finding peanuts all around her—on her pillow, under her chair,
in her sandals. Either there is a very clever prankster, or she’s hoarding
peanuts—Catie Benson, Peanut Hoarder.
Today, we
play our first match against the French, and we’re raring to go. This will be a
great test for us against one of the top teams in the world. We’re hoping that
our game plan is superior and that we can execute it well. We have been thus
far, and I think today’s match will be a good one—the start of the
#eaglesrevolt (and the start of me using that hashtag).
