Sacré bleu! Stade have work to do...
THE steps of the Sacre Coeur – there are 270 as I painfully recall, if you don’t cheat and start at the bottom – have long been a gathering spot to watch the sun set over Paris.
Over the years the likes of mime artist Marcel Marceau, violinist Stephane Grappelli, his mate Django Reinhardt the guitarist and even reportedly on one occasion, Bob Dylan, have provided impromptu entertainment for revellers.
Imagine their surprise therefore when the Stade Francais squad arrived on Tuesday evening in their distinctive pink kit and, after some speed endurance work running up the steps, started going through elaborate handling and passing drills before resting on the very top steps and passing the time of day with on-lookers.
All good PR naturally, but perhaps one or two players also excused themselves and nipped into the mighty Basilica itself to light a candle.
Stade – French champions as recently as June 2015 – started the week in 13th place in the Top 14 with a visit from Montpellier last night.
Not qualifiers for the European Champions Cup, they start their Challenge Cup next week against Krasny Yar in the middle of Siberia.