Euro 2016: A football fan’s guide to France - Part 6: Paris

Liam Happe will be enduring train strikes and mass congestion to check out each of the 10 participating stadiums at Euro 2016 in the first two weeks of the tournament.

Each ground and its surrounding area will be judged on five criteria and rated on a total possible score of 50.

Heading out for the latter stages of the tournament? Considering taking in an extra game while already out here? Or, simply flirting with the idea of hopping across the channel for a league match next season that’ll somehow still cost less than visiting your local Premier League club? Here’s the lowdown.

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Parc des Princes has, for the last four seasons, been the home of kings. Paris Saint-Germain have dominated domestically, with a little help from Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s riches, ever since Montpellier provided the biggest title shock in Europe’s top five leagues before Leicester City put even that in the shade.

In existence in one form or another since 1897(!), PSG’s home does not quite measure up to that of several clubs of lesser stance, such as Lyon and Lille, holding a relatively-modest 48,712. However, when Euro 2016 is in the books, it will return to being THE place to be for French football - and probably will be for a while to come.

I witnessed one of the more ordinary games of the tournament there, as Switzerland and Romania played out an okayish 1-1 draw.

ACCESSIBILITY: 6/10

Anyone who has yet to visit a football match in France would assume that Parc des Princes and Stade de France would be the easiest to access, being situated in Paris. However, whereas Le Stade is on the outskirts and well serviced by the RER train, heading to the Southwest of the capital for PDP was far less supported and very prone to the traffic that such an event a short distance away from Tourist Central.

SURROUNDING AREA: 5/10

Making the voyage to the ground itself was the worst of the trip so far, to make matters more frustrating. Directions from staff were confusing and police and security were overly involved, even when groups of more than a dozen fans had the audacity to sing and dance (unless, of course, it was pre-orchestrated for television B-roll, in which case they didn’t mind). The party mood of ticket-holding supporters was slightly dented by all this, but thankfully not completely deflated.

FOOD/DRINK: 7/10

Some of the city’s better bars and casual restaurants are in the vicinity of the stadium, and fans of both sides took full advantage in the build-up (especially with the aforementioned awkwardness of getting around). More could have been done to serve those who’d gone inside or were nearby and waiting for the crowds to calm down, however. Many grounds so far have done a better job with pop-up bars and sandwich stands.

INSIDE THE STADIUM: 8/10

Two tiers circle near-continuously around the pitch, making for a sleek appearance and very good accessibility. It makes for a different feel to any other grounds participating in the Championships.

ATMOSPHERE: 6/10

Unfortunately, the architecture, stemming from the ground’s previous life as a cycling velodrome until the late 1960s, means fans are further away from the action here than anywhere else so far - especially when sat behind the goals or in the corners. Both the Romanian and Swiss fans were in fine voice, but any other ground at the Euros would surely have reflected this much better.

TOTAL: 30/50

Other scores so far

Stade de France, Saint Denis: 37/50 - read the review

Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens: 36/50 - read the review

Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille: 34/50 - read the review

Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon: 34/50 - read the review

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne: 35/50 - read the review