Glenn and Jo Retallick visiting the Louvre museum before travelling back to New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / Tiffany Salmond
With the semi-final between the All Blacks and Argentina looming, it was time to check back in with Kiwi fans in Paris.
With the goal of tracking down a few All Blacks jersey-wearing individuals, we headed to the Louvre museum.
Much to our surprise and delight, amongst the crowd was none other than the proud parents of All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick - Glenn and Jo Retallick.
France 2023 marks their third Rugby World Cup as well as attending Brodie's under-20's World Cup.
"It's taken us on many journeys. We're very proud and very lucky to be able to do these things," Jo Retallick said.
The pair decided to make the most of being in the Northern Hemisphere by adding some of their own adventures into the mix.
"We started in Barcelona in the middle of September, a cruise around the Mediterranean, then back to Lyon and then we went and did the Bernina train express through the Swiss Alps.
"Into Italy for four days and then came back to Paris."
Despite following the team for the past few weeks, they will unfortunately be heading home on Tuesday, missing Friday night's (local time) semi-final against Argentina at Stade de France.
"We've had to take special leave from work and so we've got to head on home. It's a bit of a bummer but never mind, it's the way it is."
Not all was lost as they were able to go to the pool matches and attend both quarter-finals at the weekend which were "great games".
When asked about their predictions for this weekend, there was no hesitation. "All the way!"
Glenn was placing his bets on the All Blacks winning by a 12-point margin while Jo was expecting it to come down to the wire.
"I think it might be closer than that because I'm sure they're probably going to be playing South Africa. I think it's going to be about six."
This trip marked their third time in France and Jo was emphatic that her favourite part about coming back each time was the food.
"All the patisserie shops! Yeah that's been delicious, I've tried something different everyday."
Although not every facet of the Paris experience gets a glowing review from Jo.
"The most interesting thing for me is the traffic and the corner street toilets."
She laughs as she tells a story of how she got 'caught out in one'.
"So that was hilarious, absolutely hilarious."
Glenn and Jo Retallick will be tuning in to the semi-final from New Zealand come Saturday morning and have full faith in the All Blacks - and their son - to pull off another showstopper.
