St Etienne, England v Slovakia 20/06/16

It seemed appropriate that today was the summer solstice, the longest day in the calendar as a very early start was required with the game not scheduled to kick off until many hours later at 9pm. Our initial destination was Luton airport as we departed from home at about 3.15 am; aiming for a flight departure at about 8am. All went very smoothly and the flight landed in St Etienne on time about an hour and a half later. The reception from the local immigration and Police could be described as a little frosty as the passport check was extremely thorough and time consuming. Processing a plane load of dedicated England supporters took at least an hour and was extremely thorough. Other passengers were allowed to the front of the queue therefore delaying us even further. However as we left the airport to board our buses to the stadium we were faced with an armed welcoming committee and a host of dogs, just seemed a tad OTT to me.

The welcoming committee! That was nice of them!

Yep, a few dogs and machine guns!

We headed for the stadium, arriving about mid day, so that we could locate the same buses after the game. There was some distance between the stadium and our drop off point but it was a nice warm day and the mood was very jovial. After the troubles of Marseilles and the extra precautions around the Lens game this, hopefully, would be more upbeat and a fun-filled day.

Once we had our bearings we all trooped of to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city centre. It was a bit of a trek to be fair, but the weather was good and the mood was light with most people looking forward to a day of fun and a good game of football. We recalled playing in Bratislava some years ago where the weather had been unkind to say the least and the reception from the locals and their Police also left a lot to be desired. Hopefully none of that would be repeated in St Etienne.

We ended up in the square known as Jean-Jaures square which had been infiltrated by several thousand England fans. It was surrounded on 4 sides by restaurants and bars of all shapes and sizes and a nearby Italian pizza restaurant was calling. Service was slow, but it was a seemingly busy day for everybody and I doubt if the local business's had seen such patronage in many a year.

For the England fans, and ourselves Jean-Jaures square was one big street party, with everybody participating in a drink or two, singing, dancing and above all good humoured fun! Enjoyment at a European championship game of football was back on the cards to the delight of everyone.

And my pet hate? Never enough toilets when England fans travel abroad. This time it was France, but it could be most countries across Europe, especially those without a real pub culture, that their 'café's' just don't seem to be allocating enough toilets. Queues, queue, and more queues!

A long walk up to the stadium, stupid entry procedures and here we are!!

Of course the less said about the game the better!! A boring 0-0 draw wasn't what we wanted or expected. Yet again this England team frustrates, and yet again we don't finish top of the group as we would have liked. Why can't we do things simply??

So, at the end we made our way home yet again, a coach journey to the airport, flight to Luton and a long drive home. I just need my bed!