Day 14 Missing Rory

Almost a full Reunion in Lyon

After spending a couple of hours blogging over breakfast it was lovely to finally meet up my old muckers Gerry and Simon. They had arrived late last night after I had gone to bed.

Of course, upper most in our thoughts is dear old Rory O'Brien who suddenly passed away not even three months ago.

He booked the hotel we are staying in and as I tap away entering I can't help thinking that the twin bed next to me should not be empty.

Rory, where are you?

As Ella, his daughter, told me - he is here with us in spirit. Certainly, every drink will be a toast to him and he is never far from our thoughts or our conversation.

Thinking of you, mate

Once we'd eaten and had a coffee, we walked to the old town, wrapped in conversation to the extent that somewhere we took a wrong turn adding another 20 minutes to the journey.

Eventually, we got to La Place Bellecour and had the first of many drinks. First, we watched Slovakia beat Russia, scoring two brilliant goals in the process - and making us a little nervous at how good they looked. England won't have it easy against them, for sure. 

Next up was Switzerland v Romania. Romania scored first but Switzerland equalised. Not a great game. 

Albanians from Kosovo

We tried to get in the fan park for the France game but unfortunately about ten thousand others had the same idea and the long queue to get through security didn't seem to be moving so, instead, we headed back to the little square we'd been earlier to watch France, eventually, break down brave resistance from Albania to win 2-0 and start a joyous street party with Northern Ireland fans joining with the French in celebration, as they got soaked by a constant downpour.

"Power nap"

Great atmosphere in Lyon 

Fans getting drenched

Group A in the bag for France

It was packed in the city and Uber hyped it's prices by 2.4x but the alternative of walking back to the hotel under a downpour for an hour was even worse.

Aljice

Lyon