Tag Archives: CFA

Saturday 29th April 2017 – CALIBURN IS RUNNING MUCH BETTER …

… now that he’s empty. This morning I went up to the Place d’Armes and carried on emptying him of everything that was in there.

I’m not sure exactly how I managed to put some of the boxes into Caliburn, but I had a struggle to get them out and for three of them, I had to divide the load in half before I could move them up into the apartment.

caliburn unloaded place d'armes granville manche normandy franceBut it’s all done now, Caliburn is empty and the apartment is full. It’s amazing just how much stuff was in there, and with all of that Caliburn was only half-full too.

And that’s not all of it that was in there either because there’s stuff in the bedroom and in the bathroom too.

What remains now is the difficult bit – to go off to IKEA and buy some furniture. I’ve seen what I want and so for the next week or two I’ll be selling my body around the streets of Granville.

I was awake early this morning – like 05:00 early. and couldn’t go back to sleep again. And so I was more than ready for breakfast. Afterwards I headed into Granville to do some shopping.

While I was driving down the hill, I noticed a place that gives music lessons, so I stopped there to see if anyone wanted a bass guitarist. I wasn’t surprised to receive a negative answer but at least I’m making myself known around the community and that’s the point.

There’s a football match this evening too – US Granville’s Ist XI at home to Vendée Fontenay Foot in the Championnat France Amateur and tickets were on sale in the Leclerc. I may as well go along and see what they are up to.

At lunchtime I stopped work and went with my butties to sit in the wind on top of the cliffs overlooking the bay.

cruise tour of the bay granville manche normandy franceI was disturbed by a loud-hailer out to sea and it turned out to be a cruise boat thing with loads of tourists being given a guided tour of the bay. Giving a guided tour to half of the Department as well judging by the volume of the boat’s PA system.

Mind you, he didn’t hang about long and disappeared back to where he came from on the other side of the headland. Which was just as well, because he was getting on my nerves and I hope that this isn’t a regular thing.

I carried on with the unloading and then crashed out for half an hour. and finished off the day by sitting quietly and reading a book. I reckon that I had deserved it.

stade louis dior us granville Vendée Fontenay Foot football manche normandy franceThe crowd at the football tonight was a bit dismal – just 560 people. and they missed an exciting match. US Granville went 1-0 up after about 10 minutes, and that after their keeper had pulled off two or three stunning saves (I’m quite impressed with this US Granville keeper).

But the goal was one of those that I have been predicting for years, as regular readers of this rubbish will remember. A back-pass to the keeper and instead of the keeper belting it upfield or out into touch, he hangs on to it and tries to be clever, with a couple of Granville forwards closing down on him. When he finally does decide to clear it, he miskicks and the ball hits a Granville forward in the stomach and bounces back into the net. And serve him right too.

The second goal that US Granville scored was a peach, and a candidate for “goal of the month” in any league you like. A ball won in the air by the big Granville centre forward who plays it out to the right winger (who was having a good game). He fizzes a cross along the ground right into the penalty area and a most audacious step-over from the centre-forward wrong-foots the entire Vendée Fontenay Foot defence. The left-winger running in from the far side has the simplest of tasks to side-foot the ball into the empty net.

So 2-0 up at half-time and going at a canter. I remember musing to myself “still 45 minutes to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory” – and how I was to come to regret those words.

As seems to be the usual procedure these days in French football, US Granville were so far ahead that they imagined that they had the game won already, and in the second half they had switched right off and Vendée Fontenay Foot were pushing forward.

A free kick about 25 yards out to Vendée Fontenay Foot and a magnificent curling shot around the wall found the net right by the near post. And about a minute later, a goalmouth scramble in the US Granville penalty area saw a foot prod the ball into the net through a crowd of players.

panic stations after that and Vendée Fontenay Foot could easily have scored a third – and a fourth – and would have done with some better luck too. But US Granville hung on and almost scored a winner themselves in the dying minutes. Nevertheless, I bet that they were glad that the final whistle went when it did.

As for the football, this is CFA – Championnat France Amateur, part-time players playing what is about Conference North or Conference South equivalent. And I do have to say that the standard is pretty good for all that. The US Granville keeper and their centre-half could easily slot into a League 2 side in the UK and I would sign the keeper in a heartbeat. He reads the game well, is a good shot-stopper and has good distribution skills.

On the way home I found a pizza van, and I still have some vegan cheese left. So that was tea organised. It was a good pizza too and the guy was quite garrulous.

So now it’s bed-time. My last night here and I can’t say that I’m too sorry. It was the cheapest place in Normandy and you can’t win a coconut every time.

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Saturday 8th April 2017 – WELL, THAT WAS ANOTHER …

… total, complete and utter waste of time.

I could smell the rising damp from outside the front door. And I wasn’t wrong either. I shan’t go on (and on and on) about the place to spare you all the unpleasant details, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the average standard of living of people here in Normandy is to bed down with the cattle.

genets mont st michel manche normandy franceIt’s a shame really though because the village of Genets itself is quite pretty. And not only that, there’s a most spectacular view of Mont St Michel from the car park across the road.

Nerina and I went there almost 30 years ago for a good wander around and it’s always inspired me. And what is more, it’s possible to walk across the sands from here to the Mont when tidal conditions are right, and there was in fact a party setting out while I was there.

Regular bus services to the railway station at Avranches too, but unfortunately I won’t be on them.

I headed back to Granville and went to do some shopping.

Having enquired of the BIOCOOP before I came down here about vegan cheese and been told in the affirmative, I headed in that direction to stock up. But having spent a fruitless 20 minutes looking, I enquired of a member of staff, only to be told “ohh, we don’t have that”.

That’s no good.

And so I went up to LeClerc and bought a few bits and pieces there to stock up for the next few days and to take with me on the train. And that reminded me – my Senior Citizens railcard – it needs a photograph, and there’s a photograph booth there.

Another thing was that the place was advertising tickets for this evening’s football match – US Granville v Rennes II in CFA Nord – the equivalent of the Nationwide North League in the UK. Cost all of €5:00, and I reckoned that buying now would save queueing at the ground.

plage donville les bains granville manche normandy franceWhile I was out looking at that wretched apartment at Donville-les-Bains the other day I had noticed the gorgeous beach there. And so that was where I headed for lunch.

A pot of hummus from LeClerc (and that took some finding) and a nut loaf to dip into it, and some fruit and soft drink – and there I was, sitting in the gorgeous sun with my book.

I dozed off for half an hour too,and who can blame me? But I do feel a bit of a fool. I have two sun-lounging reclining chairs as well as a fold-up portable chair, and where are they? That’s right. Bane of Britain has left them back at the Auvergne.

At about 16:00 I headed back to my little studio for an hour or so and a coffee, and I was lucky with a parking place. Just as I arrived, someone was trying to pull out into the traffic and so I stopped to let him out, and then quickly reversed in.

stade louis dior us granville rennes 2 manche normandy franceI was glad that at LeClerc I had bought a ticket for the match, because there was something of a queue. I had no problem entering the ground.

The stadium is pretty similar to that at St Eloy-les-Mines, but it looks as if at one time it had a dog track around the outside. There’s even the channel where the electric hare (an “external” hare) would have run.

But I was thinking, like I do on special occasions – what a superb speedway track this would make. France was never very big in speedway but this place would be ideal.

stade louis dior us granville rennes 2 manche normandy franceAs for the match itself, it wasn’t too bad. Had Granville won, and both Chlet and Bergerac failed to win, then Granville would have gone top.

Cholet lost and Bergerac could only draw, but US Granville lost too – and so it’s Rennes who are king of the heap right now. Final kick of the game – right between the keeper’s legs.

But it was played at a pace and both of the keepers had their work cut out. US Granville missed a sitter straight from the kick-off and a Rennes forward kicked the ball over the bar, totally unmarked, from 6 yards out.

But there were a couple of “incidents”. There was a bad tackle after about 65 minutes which resulted in a red card for a US Granville defender, but it wasn’t a “violent” tackle in my book and I would have only given a yellow card for the offence.

And then a few minutes later, we had another reckless tackle (well worth a yellow card to a Rennes defender) but a US Granville player decided that he would intervene. A Rennes player pushed him away and the US Granville player went down as if he had been hit by a nuclear missile, holding his face although the push had been to his shoulder.

The referee sent off the Rennes player, and I do have to say that if referees sent off everyone who had pushed an opponent in the middle of a mêlee we’d be playing matches with no-one on the pitch. A yellow card, very likely, but also a yellow card for “unsportsmanlike conduct” to the Granville player is what I would have given. It really was shameful.

Anyway, I headed home and ended up having a late night, what with one thing or another. But no matter.It’s Sunday tomorrow and I’m having a lie-in.

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