St Omer is a beautiful small medieval French town, with plenty of restaurants and bars. It is only 30 miles from the ferry terminal in Calais. Late afternoon on Saturday is when everyone meets up.

There’s a great atmosphere as teams take great interest in the painted contraptions that steadily arrive for the registration. One or two teams will probably arrive earlier in the day and may already have sampled the French beer. After registration everyone wanders into the town which is about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. Being Saturday night there are plenty of people out and about.

The heart of the town is a cobbled square surrounded by a mix of shops, restaurants and bars in typical French architecture, some dating back to the 13th century. The centre piece of St Omer is the beautiful Notre Damme Cathedral which took centuries to complete and is widely recognised as the best example of gothic architecture outside of Paris.

There are plenty of places open late in which to partake in the consumption of the liquid nectar. Most people will have there sensible heads on but one or two will no doubt turn up for registration the next day, a little worse for wear.

Sunday morning sees breakfast followed by the team briefings, information packs and then that’s it we’re on our way Germany!!!