PRESS VIEW: Touch down in Paris for Euro 2016

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Floods, what floods?

The rain that plagued Paris only as recently as last week’s French Open have disappeared, and replacing it are bright blue skies ahead of Euro 2016 which kicks off tomorrow night.

Paris is abuzz with locals and tourists alike bracing themselves for a month-long party of football.

The stunning fan-zone shadowed by the Eiffel Tower was opened on Thursday afternoon, with 92,000 fans able to cram into the area to watch all 51 matches of the tournament live on an unprecedented 420 m² big screen.

It’s a frenzied pace here in Paris and away from the city in St Denis, preparations are being finalised at the Stade de France, which will host tomorrow night’s opener between France and Romania.

The stadium is a sight to behold. Every single detail has been catered for, with the setting looking near-perfect prior to France and Romania training on the hallowed turf for the first time on Thursday evening.

There are over 200 desks in the media tribune which is incredible and internally, the media set-up is state of the art, with hundreds of desks, televisions, cafes and everything you could imagine to ease the stress of a journalist.

Security is as expansive and elaborate as you could imagine, even for the press.

Just to enter the stadium journalists are expected to pass through metal detectors and a highly-intensive screening process just to enter the stadium, and you’d expect it to be the same for the fans.

Everything looks good to go, from the decoration in the city, with all signage and colour pointing towards Euro 2016.

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Word on the street is that France are raring the go and the locals are expecting a relatively ‘easy’ opening win against the Romanians, but the Romanian press will tell you otherwise.

France are expected to win the lot and that’s a fair expectation given their on home soil and boast one of the more talented French squads of all time, but for mine the commentary around reigning World Champions Germany is way too quiet.

They’re my tip, let’s see what happens over the next month.

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