Monday

Today while all the team went and had rhythm session on the old course at Pau I walked into the town of Jurancon. Bought the six baguettes and back home up the steep hill to our wee house. from there we all went into the centre of Pau and did a 45 min tour of the castle complete with old tapestries, draped canopied beds, massive dining table that seated 100 and more. From there to the course for the first of the nations trainings and to find that our session had been changed and we missed it. We argued the point and jumped on anyway and the juniors loved it. To quote Callum "i reckon it's mean". Paddling with us GBR and TOGO and after us Slovakia, were heaps of amazing paddlers. All the Olympic medallists are here and it is great for our guys to be in amongst them all. The workers at the course are still laying ready lawn and adding artworks to the old concrete wall as you arrive at the course. After a scorching session where everyone got sunburnt we headed home via the supermarket. we had been invited to a bbq around our shared pool with the other guests. A couple from Salsbury and the wifes sister in law from Oregon. We shared salads and all took delicious tasty french sausages , and it worked out perfectly. The guy had been in the army and kept the kids enthralled with army tales and adventures around the world, complete with stories of fellow compatriots who had lost limbs in Iraq etc Hope all well in NZ