New Zealand invades Paris

Saturday, we spent a part of the afternoon near the Eiffel Tower. Our goal was not actually the tower, but behind it. There, on the lawn of the Champs de Mars, was a huge Rugby ball.

It's not an everyday sight in Paris and we were curious for a closer look !

The New Zealanders put up an inflatable ball since 6 October to promote tourism & the future World Cup Rugby tournament that will be held in 2011 in their country.Since 7 September, France has been hosting the World Cup Tournament,which at this point will soon be at the final.I'am in no ways a rugby fan ( or this blog would have been full of it!). I'll stick with Saturday's exposition :

Click for a larger view.

The 100% Pure New Zealand Rugby ball is 25 meters long(82 feet) and 12 meters high (39 feet).

What everyone was invited to do was to come into the Rugby ball to watch a 10 minute film about New Zealand. We were already lining up outside, and were asked to put away our camera & turn off the cell phones.OK, no pictures. Sorry...During the short wait, we got some brochures about New Zealand, and little CD's, to watch images on the computer at home.

I can't begin to describe the film, that was projected in 180°, took us on a magical trip through New Zealand.It was as if we were really a Rugby ball; a man in rugby polo & shorts towered above us, before giving a big kick and sending us flying out to New Zealand ! We took an amazing virtual trip through the universe, sea,forests, mountains, and through other wonders. It was really worth seeing.

At one point, a young actor came up and interacted with the film. That was cool. At the end, I had to go up and shake his hand. I know how nice it is to hear kind words when far from home.The young Maori was very modest, but boy, did he have a big smile !

Outside, there were some dancers doing traditional Maori dances, and of course the famous war dance, the Haka. Anyone that has seen a match with the world famous New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks can easily appreciate this. Except this time, the ladies were dancing too !

If any of you reading this post are in the Paris area, just letting you know that the Rugby Ball will be up in the Champ de Mars until the 21 October.There's still time to catch the show !

Yours truly with a friendy Maori lad.



Performing the Haka .



The ladies' turn to dance !

They are using what we called in Hawaii "poi balls". They are made from cloth which is rolled up into a tight ball and attached by a cord. The ladies twirl them around and dance with them.Not quite as easy as it looks; I tried a few times at school, and usually ended up hitting myself each time ( they can hurt; they are hard ).

New Zealand is a place that my husband & I dream of discovering when he will be in retirement.A trip of a lifetime, that is even further away from Paris than Hawaii is ( 11,988 km or 7,449 miles), which is already mighty far.But Auckland is still further away, with 18,546 km or 11,524 miles from here.

A trip of a lifetime across the globe...

Take care and see you all soon .