The French Prove They Shouldn’t Have Had the Olympics
The French were peeved that we got the Olympics for 2012, especially as they said they had all the stadia ready.
But when they built the Stade de France, they forgot one important thing; undersoil heating. In fact because of the design of the roof, they may have actually made things worse in cold weather. This is from Wikipedia.
The tinted glass in the center reduces the contrast and distributes natural light. It filters out red and infrared radiation, however, it allows blue and green lights, due to their necessity involving the health of the turf.
So perhaps their design actually made matters worse by stopping red and infrared radiation.
I suspect there will be small arguments going on all over Paris tonight. How many Irishmen for instance have come over for a long weekend with their wifes to give them a Valentine’s Day treat on Tuesday? And how many French are wanting to get back the South-West, where most of their rugby is placed?
It’s just been said on BBC Radio 5, that the reason the Stade de France has no undersoil heating , is that it was built on an old rubbish dump and methane rises out of the soil.
The Anonymous Widower 
The coldness of these days is a very rare circumstance, difficult to foresee . People to blame are rather those who decided to play 6Nations games on evenings a few years ago . For money of course .
Your title is funny : do you know which nation re-created the Olympic Games in 1896 ? The same which created football World Cup and European Cups .
And a last thing : I was one of the many French who were praying for London to get the Olympics . From what we could see in recent past ( I mean for people really interested in real politics and real infos), the Olympics organization is a ruin for the unfortunate city or country who hosts them . Of course, some big guns of business make a fortune paid with public money, but the majority of average citizens pay a high price in following years taxes and lack of social helping .
Considering you can see better on TV; I was really relieved when London won .
Comment by phildange | February 11, 2012 |
I was more hasing a gentle dig at my French friends with the title. London bid for the Olympics, as we had this massive site at Stratford, that needed to be cleaned up. We did the same at Greeneich where we built the O2 dome. As the Stade de France was built on a rubbish dump, I suspect all were following the same sensible rules.
The problem with the Stade de France is the design. Firstly, it is too large at 80,000 seats. Eastlands in Manchester was built for the Commonwealth games at 40,000 seats and is now a 50,000 football stadium for Manchester City.
The other problem with the Stade de France is that the roof is designed to cut out heat. Alright on a hot day, but on a cold day, you need all you can get.
I suspect that now, if the Stade de France were to be built it would be very different. Just as the Olympic stadium at Stratford is different to Eastlands and the MIllennium Stadium in Cardiff.
If you’re in London, I’ll show you round the site, which contains a real legacy for London.
Comment by AnonW | February 11, 2012 |
Thanks for the invitation, I used to like London from 1975 to 1995, when it was not Big Brother City yet, when you could park your car and all that sort of things .
I just learnt that the Stade de France has been built on an previous gas site, made of volcanic rocks, hence an undersoil heating was too dangerous . And it’s not really necessary in Paris, today is an exception .
Comment by phildange | February 11, 2012 |
No problem about the invitation. I don’t have a car and can’t understand why anybody does in LOndon. Or Paris for that matter. Parking isn’t too bad here, though.
I did see some years ago, that one football club in the UK, used gas-powered heating by hot air in pipes under the soil. Surely, somthing like that will work for the Stade de France.
Comment by AnonW | February 12, 2012 |
You’re probably right about hot air in pipes, but is it really necessary in Paris ? It would be rarely useful IMO, and they prefered saving money I guess .
About London I did need my car because the tube is highly expensive and it stops around midnight . After my early discoveries of places to visit I spent most of my time going out at night looking for gigs performed in bars because the English are good for that, and it happened that most of what I liked was held in far away parts of London . Moving from one place to another by night taxis would have costed a fortune .
In Paris there is the same problem but a bit less, since everything is closer . Anyway I don’t go to Paris anymore for the same reasons . Night life requires a car, and day life is too crowdy . At least in New York City the subway used to run all night long .
Comment by phildange | February 12, 2012 |
It looks like they could have gone for a passive solution in Paris, like allowing enough sun through to the pitch to warm it enough. For years Ipswich have used a heated tent over the pitch and they’ve only lost two games in about twenty years. One was yesterday, when the match was abandoned. But then it was a very cold day and the match was second-level English football, not an International rugby match. I know that if Wembley had to call off a match, we’d be a laughing stock and the newpapers would be calling for scapegoats.
Do you use Oyster in London, as it saves a lot? After midnight, Londoners use night buses, which get you everywhere. But then Londoners often use buses instead of the Tube, as they have stops near both ends of their journey. Night buses are also very safe in London.
By the way all cities you name will soon have a common travel card. The banks are trialling credit/debit cards as Oyster in the Olympics. The first time you touch in, it validates the card and then at the end of the day, it charges you what it would have charged Oyster, no matter how many journeys you take. You’ll be able to see how much you’ve spent, by touching one of the Oyster machines.
Where are you by the way, Phil.
Comment by AnonW | February 12, 2012 |
Oh boy, I certainly don’t want one more card that gives infos about me, and about the night buses you mention, how often do they pass by from a far suburb to another one ? I told you I never stayed in the center, and how would I find the exact dam bus stand at 1.AM ? ( I know in London those parts are not “suburbs”, but I doubt there are many night buses from one to another) .
My last visit in London was in 1994, and in Paris in 2007 . Without a certain amount of freedom pleasure disappears for me . I live in the widest forest of Europe except Russia, “les Landes” between Bordeaux and Biarritz . My first big city was NYC, before any other, but it was in 79 and from what I heard the atmosphere has changed a lot, so I don’t think I would like it either . But I still adore the Far-West .
About the pitch, I read it was so cold that even though they had heated it, it couldn’t have helped from freezing during the game . The soil was very deeply frozen . But hey, why did the Commitee refuse yesterday or today’s afternoons ? And who got the marvelous idea to play by night ?
Comment by phildange | February 12, 2012 |
If you buy a pay-as-yiou-go Oyster, you are tracked through the system, but only so they can bill it correctly. If you pay for it by cash, they have no idea, who bought the ticket. If you were last here in 1994, that was pre-Oyster and pre-bus sider maps, which have really sorted out the where do I go problem.
I don’t know your area of France at all, although if I get reasonably sound again, I’ll go to Bordeaux to play Jeu de Palme, as they have a court there.
They were playing at night for the television companies. Remember our MPs, won’t adopt the same time as France, because they always get outvoted by a small group of northern Scottish MPs, who are totally against the change.
Comment by AnonW | February 13, 2012 |
Thanks for the infos . Portugal is on the same time as UK, it’s only one hour difference with us anyway . Jeu de “paume” was an ancient game played in king’s times . What you call “the tennis court oath” in 1789 is called ” le serment du jeu de paume” in French . What you saw was probably one of the 3/4 different Basque games which are widely played in all south-west . The general name is “pelote basque” or Jaï-Alaï in Basque . There are different rules and names, some with bare hand and some with implements . If you like this, it’s better to go in Basque villages . I’m 60 miles form Basque country and I could guide you if ever …
Comment by phildange | February 13, 2012 |
In England it’s called Real tennis and is a game on the up. I play now at Middlesex University and used at play at Cambridge University, where they have two courts. Some years ago, I was National Champion in my handicap range. It’s the only sportng trophy I’ve won, other than horse-racing ones. But thn I didn’t do any work for those!
Comment by AnonW | February 13, 2012 |
Congratulations, “real Federer” . By the way I’ve no idea how the “jeu de paume” looks like, and if it’s like “real tennis” . All I know are the Basque games . One is played with a wooden racket called “pala” against a simple wall, another against two walls, one in front the second on the left side, including tricks and holes ( called “trinquet”, looks like squash) . Another rule is played with a wicker basket, like a giant glove called “chistera”, against one or two walls . And the mother game is played against a wall with bare hands . They all use a very hard small black ball, so the bare hand one is for tough Basque guys . When they slap you you loose your head .
All those games are played up to Bordeaux . In every village around me there is an open air “fronton”, the name of the famous wall, and there are dozens of indoor rooms for double walls games .
Comment by phildange | February 13, 2012 |