Living in Paris
Today as I write this entry (28 April) my daughter Sarah is celebrating her 21st birthday in Paris. Also she shares this birthday with the NZ rugby star, Andrew Mehrtens. Quite by chance today I also was reading the magazine NZ Rugby World where there was an article on Andrew’s career. Andrew Mehrtens, 37 years old today, is now living in Antony on the outskirts of Paris with his partner and children, where he is playing rugby for the Top 14 club, Racing Metro 92.
In Paris Andrew especially enjoys going to the markets – “going to the market is quite a French way of life where people combine business with pleasure. It’s a way for the French to express their joie de vivre every day”, Andrew says.
What impressed me about the article in this magazine, was that Andrew has become so respective of culture in France. He adores living in “the most beautiful city in the world” as he puts it, and he adores sharing in the culture that it offers him. Quite a change from NZ rugby players of the 1950s when during a tour of Paris, the captain of the All Blacks, Ron Jarden, on asking if they could visit the Louvre, received this response – “what are you, a poofter?”.
One of his challenges has of course also been in learning the language, and one of his fellow players, Olivier Diomande commented that Andrew “knows the subtleties of the French language in a way rarely seen in a foreigner”.
Congratulations Andrew I admire both your ability as a player and your attitude to life in France – Ron Jarden would have been envious of you!
(To read more about Andrew’s life in Paris visit NZ Rugby World above)
Brilliant article, good to see the kiwis doing so well in France!!!
Andrew Mehrtens has just signed up for a three year contract to play in a third division rugby team in Beziers, in the south of France, where he will also be involved in coaching. Bonne chance Andrew!