A Good Day for Practice

We had sunshine today and a slight warming trend, good news indeed!

Blue Skies in the Vieux Lyon

John and I met with our Offensive Coordinator Julien Urgenti for lunch today in the St-Just district of Lyon. The main purpose of the meeting was to continue solidifying our offensive playbook.

The hidden agenda was all about another great French meal at Sophie's where our host Olivier really goes out of his way to both entertain and take care of us.

Nothing like his Tête de Veau of a few months ago but still a delicious beef lunch prepared masterfully by Olivier's father with a good bottle of red wine, a plate of assorted cheeses, dessert and a couple of Olivier's smoking hot liqueurs and I was raring to hit the practice field.

Or maybe take a nap.

Olivier blow torching my
Crème Brûlée at our table

I must tell you that this was worthy of the recent World Championships of Pastry Making that the French team won over the weekend!

The very strong goat cheese to top off our cheese plate deserved special notice as well.

After saying adieu to Julien who had to return to work after his two hour lunch break, John and I worked our way to Lyon's ancient Roman Amphitheatre.

John surveying the ruins

We then walked the short distance to Notre Dame Basilica only to find most of it closed for renovations.

The View of Lyon from the Basilica
was still open for all to admire

As were about to head back to The Villa, we got a call from TE Geoff Moultan. He had rounded up four other players and they wanted to meet with John at a local park to run pass routes for about two hours.

I took this as a good sign.

In the evening, it was time for the Cadets and Juniors to get together. Some said that it was for a couple of practices while others thought of the occasion as a four hour fashion show.

These pink and black socks will
be all the rage this season

"I'm Batman!!!"

Multi-Hued Practice Gear

I am happy to report that we had a very good Cadet workout and an excellent Junior practice tonight. The Junior team's offensive line was particularly outstanding in the night's second practice.

Finally, Olivier Rival who runs the national blog about the entire French American Football scene, wrote a nice article on our new QB. You can link to it at: http://elitefoot.blogspot.fr/2013/01/interview-du-qb-des-falcons-de-bron.html#more