The Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Champs-Eylsees are all fairly well known around the world and while Parisians love their major attractions, they largely sell themselves. 

Rugby News spent a week in Paris and its region  with our friends at Paris Je t’aime and Visit Paris Region during the Rugby World Cup and spent most of it off the beaten track and away from the major attractions. 

It was a fantastic way to see Paris and helps you realise that the city and the region has far more to offer than the typical tourist trail. 

It’s not a stopover city, it needs to be explored. Here are a few pleasantly surprising points that we learned during our stay in Paris and its region during the Rugby World Cup. 

The Parisians really know and love their rugby

It’s not hard for an event as big as the Rugby World Cup to take over a city, but after chatting to many local Parisians during my time in France, I came to realise just how quickly rugby is closing the gap to Football as France’s favourite sport.