: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:47 pm  

weather looked great(as i was watchin on tinternet)
i did notice you matt on the screen and yes you resembled PATRICK of spongebob ha ha

defo going next year tho am gutted i missed the leyther outin as i ave always gone to bridgend. anyway very pleased that you all enjoyed the day(apart from score) BIG UP to the travellin massive

: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:56 pm  

DParky wrote:

These pro expansionists..... Sounds like overall it is a place to visit.

Those costs are way out of my price range though.

One of the first chants directed at the Toulouse fans was "you'll never get a franchise" (followed by "two stands, one hedge")

: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:21 pm  

Leyther_Matt wrote:

Got back around half an hour ago, absolutely shattered but still buzzing from a great few days.

Ratings;
Stadium - very impressive, all in all. Apparently it's only an amateur ground, never mind semi pro, and Saturday's game was the biggest it's ever hosted. Very efficient bar staff, friendly stewards and lovely surroundings. A touch disappointing that the ground was situated so far out of the town (15 minutes drive from centre of Toulouse) but needs must, it seems. Passed the RU ground and it looked very much like the LSV; got the Metro to the football ground and it looks superb, albeit reminiscent of the KC Stadium! No raised viewing areas apart from the grandstands (20E tickets) with most Leythers going for the general entrance tickets at 10E and taking advantage of the decking and rockery on one side of the ground - stood with a raised view in the sunshine with a bar 20 yards away! 8/10

Supporters - very welcoming and very friendly. Unfortunately, I only saw one Olympique shirt Thursday/Friday and most locals didn't even know who they were when questioning why there were so many English rugby fans knocking about. 9/10

Entertainment - the local brass band were a little annoying when they first piped up, but everyone got in to the spirit and they were terrific at the post-match marquee do, with a good few Leythers having a go on the various instruments; "It's just a tent full of Leythers" 10/10

Hospitality - Bars, restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries were all very friendly, certainly when pigeon French met pigeon English A few of the bars were certainly welcome for the custom and stayed open well past closing time to keep the Leythers refreshed 10/10

Food - generally very good. Not a fan of continental breakfasts and I'll happily never see a croissant again, but evening meals were excellent. Literally hundreds of restaurants to choose from, and of varying themes. A lot of places did deals for three course meals, which generally worked out at 20-30E each, including a bottle of local wine and semi-generous tip. The French certainly like their steaks to be mooing a whole lot more than I'm used to in England though 8/10

Beer - costs a fortune! Cheapest pint was 5E in the ground, with everywhere else roughly 6E. Majority cottoned on to the local habit of drinking 25cl Ken Barlow servings at c30E each. Supermarkets were very cheap though and would certainly be the route I'll be going down next year, especially as you can drink on the coaches and take cans in to the ground. 6 cans of Kronenbourg for 3E10, bottles of vodka for 3E40! Drank wine with meals just generally stuck to bottles of Foster's at 5E a bottle thereafter as I wasn't keen on the Irish bitters. 9/10

Travel - Toulouse's Metro system is mind-blowing. So quick, so clean, so calm and unbelievably reasonable price-wise. Buses were regular and actually seemed a better option than the official transfers at times. 10/10 for public transport, 6/10 for official transfers.

Costs - Save up in advance, without a doubt. Spent in the region of 300E Thursday-Sunday which, apart from a 10E Toulouse FC scarf and c5E on transport, was used exclusively for food and drink. Would probably spent c200E less (including travel/hotel etc) next year by arranging things separately and using the supermarkets more often for booze. Still, it was never likely to be cheap. 7/10

Hotels and Accomodation - Ibis Centre (official trip) had a great location and was very easy to find, even after a few beers, but the rooms were very small and the bobbins air conditioning meant it was sweltering at night. Cock up with the official group booking was annoying, while a couple of mates stayed at the Ibis near the railway station and had much. much bigger rooms and all round better hotel! 6/10

Atmosphere - absolutely awesome. Leythers were appearing all over the place, all of the time and I reckon there must have been in the region of 250-300 Leigh fans at the game. Almost constant singing during the game, and a real party atmosphere in the bars throughout the weekend. Loved it. 10/10

Toulouse and the surrounding area - beautiful city, main streets very clean (though tons of dog dirt in the backstreets!), very good transport system and very easy to navigate once you've had some time to get your bearings. Carcassonne similarly impressive, I hear, and will be splitting time between the two next year. 9/10

Official Trip rating - very disappointing for a whole number of aspects, although it did give a chance to have a little more organised itinerary and make things a little easier, albeit at premium cost. 6/10 and won't be using next season.

Weather - hammered it down for 5 hours on Thursday; flash flooding in the streets and big thunderstorms! Friday unsettled; warm to begin with but ended up cloudy followed by a torrential hailstorm just as I was walking between hotels! Saturday and Sunday absolutely gorgeous, as my now olive complexion will prove! 10/10 in the end

All in all, a hugely enjoyable weekend and one I would recommend to everyone - I've already started to save for next year's trip!

Hope that helps

Well done that man! Very detailed, and thank's very much. The Optimist Clan will put it very high on the agenda for next year, in fact we'll put it down as a " must do. "

Thank You

: Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:33 pm  

10 of us got back fom Bristol about 40 mins ago, will deffo go again next year if were in same division,god forbid we get relegated.Cracking weekend,beer very expensive but its only once a year.A lot cheaper sorting your own travel arrangements cost 400 pound for 2 of us.

: Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:27 pm  

just got back, what a superb few days, seems like everybody has enjoyed it, like has been said what a griendly club toulouse are, we could certainly learn a less fronm them, both on and off the pitch, the after match entertainment was just brilliant, chatted with both sets of players, like has been said paid a fortune and could probably of gone on a weeks holiday somewhere for he cash i spent, but who cares when you have such a gresat time, its only money after all, well done to all us leythers, just brilliant weekend, inspite of the shambles on the putch, you owe us one on thursday boys.

: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:43 am  

mishmash wrote:

Err I think he wanted it in a PM Matt - we've all read it now so it's no use putting it in the programme!

I think Matt was specifically replying to my request which he did in fine form (as per usual) and exactly to the letter.

Cheers Matt and the other contributions - anymore from anyone to share?

who else : Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:20 am  

Well although the match was dissapointing from our point of view Toulouse is an interesting but, drinkswise, an expensive city.

The food is excellent and we found lots of Indian restaurants with prices like Curry Mile in Manchester. The local French restaurants too were reasonably priced and very good.

Public Transport is great and there is a Tourist Office if you need help. Our hotel was clean and seemed to be in a red light area where we found a very pleasant cafe serving the biggest gin and tonics in the world at about 4 euro. Oh the coffee was excellent cos I had one for breakfast, an enormous cup, for 2 euro 20 cents.

A lady popped in regularly who reminded me of Shirley McLaine in Irma la Douce ,a film which older readers might remember.There was a lap dancing club opposite our hotel and just down the street a bar called Bar of the Moon. Turned out if you went in this one it wasn,t compulsary.

The great thing about this type of trip is going into places,not just bars, and finding fellow supporters all wearing their colours and it made for a superb atmosphere and a smashing weekend.

Not a spot of trouble and as I mentioned on another thread the locals are extremely pleasant and very polite.

: Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:54 am  

Got back this morning - fantastic trip.

Matt summed everything up really well and the atmosphere from the Leigh fans was excellent all throughout the weekend at the match and in the bars at night. The town itself is very nice with lots of Bars, Restuarants etc all around the place. The transport system was top notch, very reasonable prices and very efficient.

Will be going again providing were in the same league

: Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:57 am  

Yes the more fans they get the better their chances of a SL liscence!

: Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:58 am  

The Leyther wrote:

Will be going again providing were in the same league

Theres a friendly match in January i believe