World Cup Showdown:Ireland players and fans prepare for crucial match with Argentina Frank McNallyin Paris
It was a bit early in the day for either drinking or excitement. But by the standards of rugby supporters on a weekend away, the 7am flight to Paris was unusually sober, in every sense of the word. It has been that kind of World Cup for Ireland.
Even the colour green was in short supply. The dominant themes on board were red and blue, as Munster jerseys rubbed shoulders with the club T-shirts of Blackrock College, whose senior team was kicking off the weekend here with a club friendly.
The stormy romance between Leinster's posh boys and the feisty southern belles has been central to Irish rugby's latter-day success story. But the chemistry has worn a bit thin lately. It remains to be seen whether another weekend in Paris can save their relationship.
It's a sign of the desperation currently gripping the Irish game that some people have billed tomorrow's crunch tie with Argentina a "miracle match". And in purely statistical terms, the challenge for Ireland - to score four tries and win by more than seven points - is smaller than the one Munster managed in the original miracle match, against Gloucester in 2003. Then the required margin was 27 points.
But this is Paris, not Thomond Park. And tomorrow's opposition is a team Ireland have not beaten by more than a handful of points since 1999. The tussle for supremacy between Ireland and Argentina in recent years has been tighter than a tango.
The other problem with miracles, as the Lourdes special investigation unit would tell you, is that they tend not to be announced in advance. Otherwise there would be a lot more witnesses.
No, tomorrow is more of a Hail Mary match. And if there is any good news for Eddie O'Sullivan, it is that the elements have combined to supply plenty of holy water.
Water, anyway. It rained all day yesterday in Paris, dampening any Irish enthusiasm that threatened to break out. But every cloud has a silver lining, even the ones drenching the Champs Elysées. And the recent slump in Ireland's rugby (and soccer) fortunes is not bad news for everyone.
Those giants of French sport, Paris Gaels GAA club, will today hold a press conference and skills exhibition at the Irish Cultural Centre to promote next weekend's European Gaelic Football Championship, which is bringing about 15 clubs here from all over the continent.
The event at the cultural centre will be followed by an exhibition GAA match near the Bastille, part of a mini Irish festival being hosted by the 12th arrondissement.
So if the rugby thing doesn't work out, at least we can fall back on a sport in which we are the undisputed world champions.
Well, all right, maybe Australia would dispute that. But we're definitely in the top two.
In the meantime, however, the Irish rugby team still has a chance of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals.
This is the last tango in Paris. The big worry is that, despite their well-known dancing skills, the Argentinians are determined to tread on our toes.