France's World Cup squad will emerge from the isolation of their secluded training base to play Norway tomorrow in the first of three friendlies before departing for Brazil.
Didier Deschamps' squad have spent the last week working at Clairefontaine, the national football centre hidden away in the woods an hour's drive south of the capital.
Such peaceful surroundings could hardly feel further removed from what awaits them in Brazil, but when they take to the field against the Norwegians at the Stade de France they will start to feel like the World Cup is finally just around the corner.
Les Bleus begin their Group E campaign against Honduras in Porto Alegre on Sunday, June 15, before going on to face Switzerland and Ecuador.
To prepare, Deschamps' side have three friendlies lined up on home soil, with the Norway clash followed by encounters with Paraguay in Nice next Sunday and Jamaica in Lille on June 8.
"It is the biggest competition that any player can imagine taking part in. It is a boyhood dream come true," admitted the Newcastle United midfielder Moussa Sissoko when asked what it means to participate in a World Cup on Brazilian soil.
To get there, France needed a dramatic play-off win against Ukraine back in November, when they triumphed 3-0 to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit, and now Sissoko is hoping to give fans at home more to shout about in the coming warm-up matches.
"We want to continue along the same lines and try to win all of these games. These are three important matches to us in the build-up to the World Cup," added Sissoko.
The team that faces Norway on Tuesday will almost certainly not be that which takes to the field against Honduras, with Franck Ribery having sat out collective training over the weekend because of a back problem.
