Très amusant

On Saturday night, after our hike, we were invited to the boys’ place upstairs to watch the France versus New Zealand Rugby game and have a few drinks.

Initially we were a bit conflicted over where our loyalties should lie, but given neither of us have been to NZ , and we were in a room full of people who seemed pretty serious about the outcome of the match...and would probably ask us to leave if we went against France, the choice was simple. Vive le France!

The game was fine – but listening to our friends was far more entertaining. Most of this group speak really phenomenally great English, but often in casual and non-directly at us conversation, they will, naturally, speak in French, which is great as it’s good practice for us and – except when they go about a million miles an hour – we can mostly keep up. However, for me, the French language is not suited to screaming at a sporting match. Oh la la la la (yes, they do say this) doesn’t quite equate to “are you fucking kidding me?!?!! The ref is blind, white fucking maggot” etc etc. But it is very amusing to listen to.

What gave me the most giggles that night though is this. When you picture male, French beauty you probably think something along the lines of this:

yeah? Strong, sophisticated....

Probably not so much this: His name is Sébastien Chabal and he is a French Rugby player. And model. A rugby player*slash*model. Yes, you read right. Model.

Ages ago I remember seeing these advertisements on billboards: And I kept thinking they were a joke! A bit like the “I love Lamb” ads that were on TV a while ago. But no. Very serious. Apparently this is what a “real” French man looks like. Ha ha.

Although...... I can see a bit of the appeal here...... I do like a bit of thug-loving in my man, it’s true. Barry Hall. Mark Riccutio. Yum. But I think David Beckham works better for spruiking fragrance. I think this guy would smell like....well, I’m not sure what exactly, maybe grown men’s blood, sweat and tears, but it wouldn’t be teen spirit, that’s for sure. Admit it, if you saw Chabal in a dark alley, your first thought would not be “model” it would be “and I’m going to need a new pair of underwear.....” So overall, this had me snickering into my glass of rosé all evening. That, and the fact that New Zealand smashed France and M kept whispering in my ear “cheese-eating surrender monkeys”.

So I guess we were supporting New Zealand after all!