Hi,
I was in Paris last week for the Scotland v Farnce match and I was wondering if anyone saw the Famous Tartan Army and what you thought about it?
Cheers
Davie
|||
Hi Eor
I didn%26#39;t see it last week but I did see lots of Scots in Paris for a Rugby match in early February 2005. I stayed in a tiny hotel (Les Degres de Notre Dame) in the 5th where a few of them stayed. On the streets, I loved seeing all the men in kilts and the women in tartan scarves. It was a delight and I never saw them being other than happy travellers. I hope it was the same last week.
|||
It certainly was Faux,
I was just wondering how it appeared to people not involved in it.
Cheers for the reply.
Davie
|||
Hi davie
I%26#39;m just back since Thursday last, had a fab time.
I did get caught up last Wed evening through the gardens and under the Eifell tower. My personal opinion is that the Scots that were there disgraced themslves.Those that littered the place like they did should be ashamed. The army , police were called to move them off.There were broken bottles cans and rubbish everywhere. The place stank of urine.How anyone could go to visit a country and do that is beyond comprehension. I was with my 15yr old daughter and we had to keep out of the way until things died down.
Unfortunatly my friend, who I was due to meet with her 2 kids 6 and 11, wasn%26#39;t so lucky. Her 6yr old was terrified..
Were you there would love to hear another side to the story.
|||
Seeing the Tartan Army in Paris was certainly a unique sight. The people I met and spoke with on the streets were very nice and all in good humour. They were more than happy to have photos taken with random tourists which was nice. And they were quick to point out that they would not be like English soccer fans if they lost the match.
I was at the ET in the morning of game day when there were a few Scots already gathered waiting for their march down to the Stadium. Maybe the top of the Eiffel Tour is not the place for a man in a kilt - it gets a little breezy up there....
Anyway, I was told that they were all gathering at the ET and at 5.30pm would start the march to the stadium. So I went back there to witness this spectacle.
If you didn%26#39;t realise they were doing this you would probably have been a bit put off and it was not a pace for children but I think they were fairly well behaved. They did leave a bit of a mess behind but it was being cleaned up even before the masses left.
Generally, I think the Tartan Army was great and I%26#39;ve been singing their song ever since I could figure out what they were saying - which takes some doing!
By the day after the match all traces of kilts had disappeared and the Scottish accents were replaced by English and South African for the rugby game on Sat night. Paris is certainly an interesting place these days..
|||
Hi Ell69,
I%26#39;m sorry you had a bad time around the tartan army, apart from the mess they are harmless. Regarding the mess the Paris authorities were informed of the plans and told the organisers that there would be a village set up for the rugby with toilet and adaquate rubbish facilities there. As it was there was nothing, this however does not excuse any bad behaviour but with around 25,000 fans there it is difficult to see what else they could do.
I am sorry if it ruined your visit.
Cheers
Davie
|||
I was there and other than the drunken/garbage laden spectacle at the Tour Eiffel, they were fine.... And, the garbage was significantly less than that created by the Techno Parade!
As a single woman, I was initially nervous walking through a gang of them on Rue de Rivoli late at night, but they were completely fine! No animal noises like similar gangs of men in America would make at a lone woman on the street....
watching them sing %26quot;gay Paree%26quot; in the Marais over and over again was a little interesting.
I have to ask - what%26#39;s up with the white socks and Timberlands with the kilt? Ruined the look!
|||
The socks, if they were long socks are proper woolen kilt socks you would normally wear with a %26quot;dress kilt%26quot; the timberlands are a lot more comfortable than proper highland dress shoes and a bit more casual.
I%26#39;m glad you didn%26#39;t feel threatened as we have the best reputation of any football fans in the world and have won awards from all the major football governing bodies in recognition of this.
The only down side is that inevitably any match involves a lot of beer! And sometimes there are those who let us down, but overall we are there for a party.
The Tartan Army also do a lot of great charity work through their Sunshine Appeal, where they nominate a local charity in the next country they are due to visit raise funds for it and visit it taking along the pipes and drums along with bags of donations.
If you google the tartan army sunshine appeal you will be able to read some of the stories of the places they have helped. I don%26#39;t mind admiting that some of the stories brought tears to my eyes and made me proud to be asscociated with them.
Thanks a lot for your feedback good and bad.
It was my first visit to Paris but definitley not my last.
Cheers
Davie
|||
We are from the US (of Scottish descent actually) and were in Paris at that time, and therefore subject to the Tartan Army experience. Aside from some public urination I witnessed, they were simply a fun-loving group of guys in skirts. I thought the loud singing and carrying of cases of beer on the metro was hilarious.
Here in the US we%26#39;d call them rednecks,
Kim
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 8:21 am, September 10, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment