Paris SGGround: Parc des Princes Visits: 1 Date: 3rd November 2011 Match: Paris SG - Slovan Bratislava 1-0 (UEFA Europa League) Attendance: 32 046
As in recent years I was free from work the latter part of the first week in November. Being a week with matches in the two European cups I knew there were plenty of choices for me. In the end I decided to travel to Paris on Wednesday evening. On Thursday evening Paris SG played at home against Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League. Since I haven´t been to Paris, or France for that matter, before I decided to fly out on Wednesday and then do some touristing on Thursday. Paris have some interesting attractions and after a short visit to Parc des Princes, the home of Paris SG, I headed towards the Eiffel tower. From a nearby viewing spot I, and all the other tourists, had a great view of the most famous tower in the world. I then visited Arc du Triomphe and Place de la Concorde before heading to the famous cathedral, Notre Dame. By now there was rain coming down so I didn´t mind walking inside this impressive cathedral for shelter and a chance to rest a bit. Once outside again the rain had stopped and I could walk around the area taking pictures. I was also stopped on numerous occasions by tourists wanting me to take a picture of them in the nice surroundings. In the afternoon I climbed the hill to Basilika Sacré Cœur . This basilica is situated in the pittoresque Montmarte area of Paris and from the basilica you have a fantastic view of Paris.
A couple of days before setting off for Paris I was contacted by a German groundhopper, Andreas. He was in France too for a couple of days and 3pm we met up at Gare Nord. Andreas is fluent in French and when the waiter at the restarant we visited didn´t speak a word of English Andreas´ language skills were invaluable. After finishing our Beef Bourguignon we then made the 40 minute metro journey to Parc des Princes where Andreas bought a ticket in the same section as I had done on-line. After giving a "tip" to a steward we could actually sit next to each other in row 13 of the Paris Stand. Parc des Princes has a capacity of around 45 000 and was used both in the 1984 European championships as well as the 1998 World Cup. For tonight´s game I was expecting 20-25 000 but in the end more than 32 000 showed up. A lot of fans arrived well into the match though, two guys in front of us only arrived in the 44th minute. Bad traffic in Paris!? Slovan Bratislava had around 250 fans cheering them on but considering their position in the group that was a decent away following. Paris SG were by far the better team and won by 1-0. They should have scored more goals but were in the end probably happy to get all three points. My first ever match in France came to an end but hopefully I will go to many more matches in this country in the future. Tomorrow I am going by train to Frankfurt, Mainz vs Stuttgart on the menu then. A new ground and a chance to meet up with my friend Jonas.
Eiffel tower
Place de la Concorde
Notre Dame
Arc du Triomphe
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Montmarte
Basilika Sacré Cœur
View of Paris
Parc des Princes
Club offices
Rear of Tribune Boulogne
Tribune Boulogne
Tribune Presidentielle
Tribune Auteuil
Tribune Paris
Tribune Boulogne
PSG fans
My view
Kick-off
Tribune Presidentielle
View of play
Slovan fans
Auteuil Stand
Pano
Pano |