So, about Montauban...

Hopefully this guide to getting there will help out our travellers on 8th December, but don't blame me if it all goes wrong.  However, it's hopefully better than Monkey Travel...

 

If you're flying, you're probably going into Toulouse Blagnac.  If you're flying on the 0715 Easyjet from Gatwick, you can now check in your bags from 8pm the previous evening, which as I found when I went to Albi and Montauban in September, means that you can get rid of anything you don't want pretty early on.  All travellers will need to check the latest Department of Transport guidelines on cabin baggage, as they are strict, particularly on the sizing of bags.  If it's too big, they will send you back to check in so you have to go through security all over again - and believe me, the queues are as bad as you've probably heard about.

 

When you get to Toulouse and you've got your bags back, turn right out of the main doors, and you'll have the choice of either taxi or coach into the city centre (I did try and find out about limousine transfer, but there appears to be nothing).  A taxi will set you back, allegedly, between €15 and €20, but if you're arriving at any other time than late night or early morning, I really wouldn't recommend it, as the traffic in the city is very heavy.  They've been doing roadworks on the Boulevard de Strasbourg - the city's main thoroughfare - for three and a half years now (at least, for it was then that I first went to Toulouse), and the traffic congestion has, if anything, got worse. 

 

I'd recommend getting the Airport Shuttle bus (the Navette), which is €4 single or €6 return, and departs every twenty minutes at 15, 35 and 55 minutes past the hour.  If there's ten or more of you in a group, you can get even cheaper fares as long as you travel as a group - it works out as €2.50 per person for a single journey.  You have to buy your tickets before boarding the bus wherever you board it, and there's a small ticket office next to the bus stop where you can get a single ("aller simple") or return ("aller retour") ticket.  The buses leave promptly, and are supposed to take 20-25 minutes to get to the last stop at the bus station ("Gare Routiere").  If it does, doff your cap and heartily applaud the driver.  Allow at least 30 minutes to get to the bus station, which is a fifty yard walk to the train station.

 

You also need to allow yourself some time to buy a ticket.  There are two queues, covering desks 1 to 7 and 8 to 14.  If you have more than three people serving at either of them then consider yourself very lucky.  What's more, the desks don't just sell tickets, they offer all of the travel information that could be obtained elsewhere, and you may also find that you have people in front of you in the queue that have come in for their only conversation of the day.  Of course, as it's in a foreign language, it really does seem like you are waiting forever.  There is no quick queue, despite most people gravitating towards 1-7 as it's the nearer one, you just have to wait and hope that they speed up.  The ticket machines are no help either, because they (a) don't take anything plastic wise non-French and (b) don't take notes, only coins.

 

Once at the front of the queue, you've got the choice of single or return tickets again, but unlike the UK, a single fare is genuinely half the price of a return (€8.20 single, €16.40 return).  Be aware though that if you decide to buy a return ticket, you have to nominate the time of the return train and stick to it - there are fines if you get on the wrong train, as I found out in September.  Unless you know exactly when you're coming back, better to buy a single out and a single just before you come back, as you can then get the next train.

 

Before you get on any train, you have to get your ticket stamped (that's what "compostez votre billet" on the ticket means); to do this, go to one of the small yellow machines, insert your ticket, and it will be stamped.

 

And a final word of warning about the trains - the timetable changes to its winter incarnation on Sunday 10th December, and two years ago, they thought nothing of going on strike on the Sunday morning.  Be aware if you're flying via Toulouse and staying outside the city on Saturday night to allow time to get back in, just in case there are "unforeseen circumstances".

 

Montauban is about 25 minutes away from Toulouse on the train (the longest journey I've found is 39 minutes, which stops everywhere).  Montauban station is nothing special; a Relay newsagents, the ticket office and a buffet, but like most of the rural French stations, it's on the outskirts of the town.  My aim in September was to get from the station to the ground at a reasonable pace, so that I could give some sort of directions, and you'll be pleased to know that it's a pretty easy journey.

 

Go out of the station, and just on the right hand side is a road heading directly away from you.  Follow that road down, and you’ll come to a roundabout, which you should go straight over (and no, that is NOT a literal instruction!).  If you turn left at that roundabout you head into town, and just around that left corner, about ten metres from the roundabout itself is the nearest bar to the ground.

 

You’re now going to head over the river:-

 

 

(which if you’re like me and have a phobia about bridges over water you’ll do slowly), and on the right hand side you should see a set of floodlights.  That is Sapiac, home of the Montauban Tarn et Garonne XV.  You’ll come to a junction on the right hand side within five minutes leading to a road called Rue Leo Lagrange – it’s the one with the clock on the left corner as you look at it. 

 

 

Head down there, and about a hundred metres down the road is the stadium.  You’ll come to the corporate marquees first, which are at the back of the main stand (the Tribune Presidentielle).

 

Like many French grounds, it’s seating down the sides and standing areas at the ends.  Unlike many French grounds, it’s actually in a velodrome layout, meaning that there’s a banked track around the pitch on all sides.  I’d recommend, therefore, that if you can get a seat, then get one.  Although there is a small standing area in front of the Tribune Presidentielle, this is on the shallowest part of the cycling track and therefore may be a problem if you’re short.

 

This and below - the Tribune Presidentielle

 

 

 

 

The rest of the standing area is around the top of the track, behind a wire fence, approximately one person deep in some areas, and on mud – or dried earth when I was there.  There’s about a 25 yard gap between the fence and the dead ball line, and it’s quite a big dead ball area.  Given that the game is going to be under lights, the opposite end is a long way to peer at in the darkness.

 

The ground from the side of the Tribune Presidentielle

 

From behind the posts at the clubhouse end, at the very nearest point to the pitch

 

And the view from the Tribune Honneur at where I took the previous photo from

 

Ticket prices at Montauban are usually €25 for the Tribune Honneur, and €12 for the standing areas (the “pesage”).  There’s a reduction to half price standing if you’re a student with a card or handicapped, which children under 14 can stand free of charge (although I would check with the club before travelling on this one).  Match tickets are not available in advance for the Tribune Presidentielle, but there may be some available on the night.

 

The Tribune Honneur

 

The MTG clubhouse, at the side of the Tribune Honneur

 

For those wishing to spend money, the club shop is behind the Tribune Presidentielle in a small hut – note that it’s only open at the match – and sells all of the usual stuff, whilst there’s the open air bars dotted around the ground selling fizzy beer, baguettes, and soft drinks.  There may also be that rarest of things in France, a programme.  For years programmes or team sheets weren’t issued at French games, such was the feeling that they weren’t needed, but they seems to be coming back into fashion this season – of the five French grounds I’ve visited, all have had programmes – and whilst you may have to pay a small sum (€2 at Dax or €1 at Biarritz for example), the copy of the Montauban v Biarritz programme I have doesn’t appear to have a price on it, and may even be handed out for nothing.  There’s not much to it – a four page A4 colour production, but it does have the team listings, and the copy I have also had a brief (but out of date) history of Biarritz on the back.

 

Sapiac is a bit of a fortress for MTG; they’ve only lost once in nine European matches there, as well as only once in six home league matches this season; the wins against Biarritz and Stade Francais in successive home games were built on hard work, a big pack, and a howling mass of support trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the big boys to cope with.  One thing we will come across there is an atmosphere.

 

Montauban Cathedral, from outside Alexandre's patisserie

 

Elsewhere in the town, when it comes to bars I have to admit that I didn’t see many (aside from the one at the roundabout), but then given that it was the middle of a very hot day I’m not surprised that I was looking for ice cream instead.  The Montauban tourist site lists six, of which no doubt that the Irish bar on Futuropôle will appeal the most.  As for restaurants, I always find that the best meals tend to come when you see one you like the look of.  There are plenty of cafes about though, and an absolute gem of a cake shop called Alexandres on rue de Docteur Lacaze, virtually facing the cathedral.  For €2.60, it presented me with this lump of pure evil – a dark chocolate crown filled with a textured creamy filling and biscuit base, presented in its own individual box.  Suffice to say, it didn’t last long (I had to eat it quickly you see, it was a very hot day, and that’s my excuse which I’m sticking to…)

 

Evil in the palm of my hand...

 

The town itself has at its heart the 17th century Place Nationale, with covered walkways on all four sides and pedestrianised streets all around it.  The old town is at the top of the hill, so you’d have to walk up to it from the ground, and be aware that you may need decent walking shoes as a large number of the streets are either cobbled or have a patterned stone made of many tiny pebbles.  Montauban struck me as quaint rather than rocking – indeed the tourist site says that it “combines rustic charms with modernity” – but it is definitely a town where the main focus is the rugby club.  We’ll be welcomed with open arms, but whilst the match is on, all friendships are off – the talk in France is already one of whoever loses this match can kiss goodbye to any chance of progressing.

 

The Place Nationale

 

So what else is there to fill your weekend?  Well, if you fancy going and watching some Heineken Cup rugby, Castres entertain Perpignan in Pool One (Wasps' group) at 4.30 on Saturday afternoon.  There's a train service from Toulouse to Castres, with two trains - the 1224 and 1417 - getting you into the town before the kick off, with a 70 to 80 minute journey.  The station is, however, on the other side of town to the ground, so be aware that you may need to leave time to cross town if there are no taxis.  There's one train back, the 1912, and one bus, at 2040, arriving back in Toulouse at 2027 and 2215 respectively.  It's always worth a trip to see two French teams doing battle (literally), so I'd recommend this one, especially as Perpignan currently top the pool and an away victory would almost eliminate Castres.  A home win though, and the likelihood is that the pool would be up for grabs as Wasps, Castres and Perpignan would all have two wins.  Ticket prices for Castres’ forthcoming game against Montpellier at Stade Pierre Antoine are priced at either €19.50 or €16.50 for seats, €13.25 for covered standing, or €11.25 for uncovered standing – expect the prices for the Heineken Cup to be pretty similar.

 

For those into shopping, Toulouse's Place du Capitole has its annual Christmas market, which is worth a look if you want to find all manner of clothing and gift items, as well as wine, beer, and lots of goodies with sugar in.  It's in the format of log cabins, so has a real rustic feel to it, and is there Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as right up until Christmas.  French shops traditionally don't open on Sundays, but as there will only be three Sundays until Christmas, they may be open for restricted hours (which also applies to Montauban).

 

If you're in Toulouse and looking for food, try the upstairs level of the covered market, between the Place du Capitole and Place Wilson - it'll be very busy, but is highly recommended by friends who have visited, or Le Bon Vivre restaurant on Place Wilson, which is a personal favourite and where Lom spotted Jean-Pierre Rives two years ago.  Trouble was, she and the other wives didn't bother to tell the blokes until after he'd left.

 

It'll be a fantastic weekend, which will be made even better with a win.