We Love Football!

Okay I have to admit it, I don’t love it as much as cycling, however I am an English women who loves the NFL and I try to watch as many games as I can get away with. Me and my better half only got into American football beginning of the last season and find we spend a lot of time watching replays and games we have recorded (because the time difference.. staying up to 6am to watch a game just isn’t viable) So you can imagine when we booked our holiday just weeks into the season we were a little bit devastated!

Turns out we had nothing to worry about, there were several bars throughout Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam that were showing the NFL so we could relax and watch the games with fellow sport followers. I thought even though not cycling related I thought I would blog my experiences through these bars we went to just to let you sports fans know were you can go to get a beer in an English speaking environment!

Paris

Wos Bar (wide open spaces bar)

This bar was fantastic, nothing fancy just a few screens but a lovely small ”feel like your a local” place to go. We were made to feel welcome right away by a lovely Chap behind the bar. They do have a fantastic selection of spirits and many lager’s. They also claim to be the only Greenbay Packers supporters bar within Europe. But don’t let that put you off! The atmosphere in here when all the games are going on is ace! You get your usual banter of a bunch of people from around the world who all enjoy the game. They do bar snacks too if you get the munchies but generally its expensive, however you find me a cheap pint and food in Paris! Everywhere else is just as pricey

There not just limited to NFL they show a bunch of English, European and American sports. Again you can ring ahead to see what they are showing.

Check their Facebook page for updates on games there showing.

The Moose Bar

Maybe you can guess by the name that this is a Canadian bar? We didn’t go in here for the football, but we wanted some food and we knew they spoke English so we decided to see what it was like the next day. This bar was much bigger and had a decent food menu. Their burger and fries were excellent! Unlike its neighbor it was twice as big and had many more screens. Lovely Canadian staff and plenty more seats. This place can get very full so you can call ahead to check what games are on and even book a table.

They had a lovely selection of lager and ales, they even have a happy hour! you can grab some cheap pints here if you time it right. Again, they are not limited to NFL! Rugby, football, NHL, Nascar, in fact there will always be a sport on in the background and you can ask or call up in advance too see whats on.

They have Wifi and even charging stations, winner!

Their webpage is here

Brussels

Fatboy’s Bar and Grill

Not my favourite place, took us a while to get served… or even noticed. The food was good, but it was so expensive for what you were getting. However as a sports bar it was ok. Its quite a big bar with a seating area outside and seemed to be always busy. They had football, rugby and NFL on at the same time and a few large screens and smaller screens throughout. Its table service too , you will probably get served quicker if you find a table and sit down.

Their webpage has details of every game they show.

Amsterdam

coco’s outback

Australian? Yup but they show NFL! they had a staggering 4 games on at the same time. This was by far my favourite bar of the holiday. They do unlimited chicken wings!! and Ribs Nom Nom Nom. There menu is awesome and when we went back on a Monday it was 50% off food. BARGIN! I recommend the kangaroo pie and their breakfasts! great food! The bar has plenty of seating, a smoking room (if thats your thing) and over 20… Yeah 20 screens throughout. I recommend you book in advance on a Sunday! It gets busy you can do it online too! Easy!

Plus a pitcher is 15 Euro so don’t worry about the price of beer to much. They have excellent drink offers. If you dont go to watch NFL just go for a few beers and shots, great place.

Coco’s webpage so you can view the Menu and book a table

So sorry for the non cyclist post… but for my wandering American friends and Tourists who Follow the NFL I thought this would help them out when wondering these countries, but with this sport growing ever so quickly within the UK and Europe expect more bars to show the sport and more!

Normal cycling posts will resume this week 😉

Welcome to Al Fresco! Day 1 of Paris

When we booked our accommodation for Paris we scrolled through a number of websites for hours and even days deciding on what we wanted to do. The hotels were horrific price wise and were roughly working out at about €500 for the five days… this wasn’t even in the center of Paris.
We have a friend who worked for a holiday caravan park. A company known as Al Fresco. Who also shared their site with companies such as Euro-Camp. This was sort of the French version of our Static caravan homes in places such as Haven and Pontins back in England. So as it was not Hoilday season we thought we would have a look at prices and see what we could grab for our hard earned English pennies.

We booked between 26th-1st October, the price?  £150 Bargin.

The Bellini

Okay so what did our money get us?

Two bedrooms, one of a double and the other had two single beds. Also in the dining room area, the seating folds out into an additional bed that can sleep another two people.

You also get a hot shower and a flushing toilet, Kitchen facilities, with gas hobs and microwave oven. However being british we were slightly disapointed in the lack of a kettle.

They supply your bedding, although they ask how many people are staying when booking to insure they have the right amount upon your arrival so make sure you check what your booking to avoid being left without sheets and towels!

They also supply a gas BBQ! And yes we did use it, on our first day.

Okay so this isn’t everyone’s idea of a hoilday but let’s not forget we booked this when all the kids had gone back to school, so it turned out to be a very very quiet campsite.

Very very quiet!

So imagine you drove to Paris with all your bikes? A group of six of you. You can take your bikes or hire them at €8 for half a day. Your can all share one of these at the cost of £25 per person over 5 days! Can’t argue with that.

Okay it’s not the most prettiest place to stay in the world. But the site does supply a laundrette on site (€5) so you don’t have to over pack and carry so much gear.

They do also have a bar and a small shop. However it was extremely expensive unless you wanted your daily bagette that was only €1.39.

The staff were a mixture of English Germans and Americans so language wasn’t a barrier at all.

Our rep who greeted us was lovely, polite and knowledgeable. He gave us some great advice and tips on were to go and visit.

I really wish I brought my bike. I saw a few locked up outside hoilday homes, this made me insanely jelous.

Okay so holiday homes are cheap, but what about other benifits?

Again I understand that this isn’t everyone’s idea of a hoilday. But we were going as tourists. This site was located in Joinville le point in Paris. Also in a very convenient location from the station. Roughly a 10 to 15 minute walk, although there was a bus service availble at a small charge.

The RER network (metro)  is the French’s answer to the underground or subway if your American.  Is dead easy to navigate and you buy zone cards the same way as you would buy them for the tube in England.  With touch screen ticket vendors that will navigate you though menus (in most languages) until you have purchased you desired ticket.

You can take bikes on some of these trains. Although it’s important to check as during the rush hour you wouldn’t even get near the train with a bike and some trains don’t have the extra carriage made for them.

So the site again boasts some awesome transport links, only about 30 mins away from the tourist hot spots and about 50 mins to Disney land! And they run from 5.50am until midnight (or 2.30 Saturday and Sunday)

You can cook for yourself! I cannot explain how expensive it is in Paris to eat. Or even drink. We had two pints and a burger and it costs over €50. We found a supermarket and bought plenty of goodies and made ourselves breakfasts and sandwiches. Don’t forget if you hotel it for your journey you will be eating out throughout the day.

Also if you drive to France you can park outside your caravan !

Negatives? 

Yes there are some negatives. One thing work mentioning Is the wifi costs money. You can pay for it at the reception.

Again the on site shop was very pricey.  They charged about €4 for a half dozen eggs and their choice of goods was very limited.

It’s a caravan park at the end of the day. Don’t have high expectations. However you certainly get what you pay for. We left feeling like we enjoyed our stay 🙂 .

#OOAFCONTOUR

I am currently embarking on my first ever holiday abroad and my first time flying. Currently I am 30,000 feet (according to the cabin crew) and just past Birmingham.

I am on route to Paris. As a start of my 3 destination holiday were we will continue to Brussels after spending 5 days in Paris then after 3 days in Belgium we will go to amsterdam for a few days before flying back to Liverpool airport.

Fair to say I wanted to cry at this point.

Last night we decided that as we had to wake up at 3am that going bed early was a clever idea. My other half was off within the hour fast asleep. Me? I was tossing and turning, my heart felt like it was going to explode and my anxiety was increasing the later it got. I think I saw every hour last night.

When I was woken up this morning I felt like I only had about 10 mins sleep. I am fully feeling the affects of a terrible nights sleep. But at 5 am we left home to get to the airport.

I felt sick. Still do infact. I am sitting here probably now heading towards Oxfordshire (again not an educated guess, cabin crew information) drinking my can of Stella (yes beer at 7am) just to keep my nerves at bay.

I panicked when the plane took off. My partner clearly found this hysterical. But I don’t think a 28 year old who has never been on a plane would have reacted any other way.

This is only an hour flight and already 30 mins in we have reached the ocean. You may have guessed I am blogging to assist in keeping myself calm. Though I have come to terms with the fact thay a giant tin can is actually able to fly. It’s not breaking physics, apparently it’s engineering at its finest. ( even if it is an easyjet flight).

Now we have passed the English channel. We’re in France and not far from Paris. My ears are trying to pop amd my leg is numb. (My god I will suffer on long haul flights)

However I have just achieved time travel… ok maybe not but they are an hour ahead so I have just lost an hour of my life to the future…

Okay, now I am at our little hoilday park. Our flight was quick. Border control was a breeze. The armed officers were not scary…. much…. and their version of the underground (or subway for the American followers) is really really easy to pick up. However, we did buy the wrong zone tickets and had to jump the barriers at our stop.  ( I wouldn’t dream of doing that in London.)

Expect a few blogs once we have found our feet and actually cycled in France.  My first question on arrival was bike hire so it’s all a go go!

France, let’s have it!