The news from France is that a series of votes taken yesterday nearly unanimously confirmed the intent of the striking transportation workers to return to work today. It will be several days before full service is restored but the worst is apparently over and visitors to Paris should find it easier to get around for the next couple of days and cheaper to get to the airport on Sunday.
The news from here is that it was very cold yesterday with a bit of snow. The snow has stopped although a bit of residue perseveres here and there. The cold hangs on with a vengeance. Last year I rode on the day after Thanksgiving and Saturday and Sunday, three rides for that weekend which finally allowed me to barely reach my mileage goal for the year. No ride is planned for today. I have several guidelines to help determine when bicycling is possible. One is that the water must not freeze in my water bottle while I am on the bicycle. Today is a day on which the water would freeze, no bicycle today.
In other news from France, Vertou was given the opportunity to hold a practice session in the Nantes stadium to familiarize themselves with the surroundings. The team members are, of course, all residents of the Nantes metro area. They are obviously avid amateur players and therefore almost certainly fans of the professional game. It is extremely likely that they have all been in the big stadium before. On all of their previous trips, however, they had to pay admission and confine their activities to watching from the stands. The FC Nantes website features a photo of "les Vertaviens" loosening up on the field at Stade de la Beaujoire.
The website also features an interview with Nantes midfielder Frédéric Da Rocha. Da Rocha says that le Coupe de France is special and that the team will take the challenge of the amateur side very seriously as advancement to the next round is of paramount importance.
For those who do not know, FC Nantes has won the French Cup on three occasions, 1979, 1999, and 2000. The current holder is FC Sochaux Montbelliard. Sochaux is currently 19th in the Ligue 1 table, in danger of relegation to Ligue 2, so it is not farfetched to think that one of the top Ligue 2 teams has a shot at winning the Cup.
Nantes is also, of course, an eight time champion of France, having won Ligue 1 in 1965, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1995, and 2001. FC Nantes is in fact the last club other than Olympique Lyonnais to be the champion of France. Lyon has won the league the past six years in a row and are currently once again comfortably atop this year's table.
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Good news about the transit strike. It should make travelling easier for your dafter.
Good 'water bottle guideline.' And, as a guideline instead of a rule, if you choose to ignore it, well... it was just a guideline. Too cold to ride here today as well. Same reason.
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