#1: PADERBORN, HERE WE COME…
Framboise in Paderborn
 Well,
it was not the easiest of journey to get there, I must admit.
Mind you, I know that from England, it’s dead easy, you can
arrive direct into Paderborn, and I’m sure from many other
places too, but from the South of France, not that simple.
First, car to the airport (Nice for me, about 1 hour), then
plane, easy, but after that, two trains, absolutely packed,
meaning no seats, bags, oh well, you know the drill, standing up
for more than 2 hours… Not the easiest start.
 But
from the bottom of my heart, once you are there, you don’t
regret for a minute having gone through a bit of discomfort. The
welcome from the hotel staff was warm indeed, the rooms are
really nice, airy, and quite comfortable. Food is lovely, and at
the restaurant or breakfast, honestly, you would have to be
silly to complain about anything.
 As I arrived one day early, I did a bit of walking in the town
in the morning, looking for a styling brush that of course I
forgot at home, took a few pictures, it was good to take in a
bit of the atmosphere of Germany, this being my first ever visit
to this country.
 Then around 1pm, went to the venue, which is just amazing, to be
honest. It’s huge, stunningly well disposed, the court is great,
of course, the displays are attractive, diverse, and well
organised.
At
the desk, charming ladies, including Mrs Paul Selby, Karen,
mother of newly wed Daryl, Lauren (who was in Nottingham this
week) and Elliot (the new PR from WISPA). Nice feeling to be
recognise when you arrive somewhere totally new you know…
The first thing you notice when you arrive here is that
everybody is busy doing something or another. But calmly,
orderly, softly I would say. At the top of the pyramid, Norman
Farthing, is working hard, directing his troops as you would
direct, well, not an army, not at all, more an orchestra, making
sure that everybody is playing the right tune.
And I like what I’m hearing. I like it very much indeed.
And I liked it even more when the Brass Band started to play at
the start of the Opening Ceremony, that was splendidly organised
in front of a beautiful castle, surrounded by water and lovely
gardens.
What a start to the tournament. The passion that has gone into
organising those championships is obvious to all. They worked so
hard, thought every little detail through … And it worked, to
perfection.
I must say I was impressed with the entrance of the 30 teams
(two were arriving only tonight) behind that great band that I
understand, played for the Pope as well, by alphabetic order,
with little kids introducing every country (with Norman’s son
representing Germany, of course), all that in front of a very
large audience, and with all my players looking so handsome.
Can’t wait to see them at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics
in 20… something!
Different numbers were then presented to us, some I really
liked, the flag throwers, I really was impressed with, the
parachutists that brought the flags of Paderborn, Germany and
the WSF right into the garden behind us, with breaking any of
their bones, or falling into the fountains, bless them.
 We
had a few speeches the President of the World Federation, N
Ramachandran, who stressed how important this event was in the
building up to the Olympic Bid, then the Mayor of Paderborn, who
has such love and pride for his town – quite rightly I might add
– and we finished the ceremony with the Mayor giving Ramy the
keys of the Castle.
Nobody ever gave me the keys of a castle. Pfffff. Mind you, I’m
still young….
 After
the ceremony, free drinks were available to all the officials,
players, etc, and the food I must say was plenty, beautifully
presented, and D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.
In short, great time we had, not a false note, not a key out of
tune for this amazing start to an event that I can feel it is
going to be a freaking hard act to follow.
Well done, Norman, well done to you, your team, your volunteers,
and your sponsors, for an organisation that I very rarely saw
before.
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EN BREF
