A good part of the 4 days in France were in a state of exquisite, exhilarating exhaustion. (Long) |  |  |
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| Porsche at Le Mans - the sporting spirit. Guenter in Ontario - 9 years ago |
Laz - 9 years ago |
| I agree on both counts. Guenter in Ontario - 9 years ago |
Laz - 9 years ago |
Some of what follows could be helpful to anyone going there for the first time (with pointers about Paris, too: )
Up at 8:00, left the house at about 10 EST, made my way to JFK with plenty of time, slept about half an hour on the plane. Charles De Gaulle around 08:00 Euro time, got to my Montparnasse hotel, Metroed up to the Musee D'Orsay (amazing place!) and although the floors are stone, in my near delirium it felt like thin, unsupported plywood under my feet. Happened to walk over that bridge that's falling apart because of all the lovers' padlocks on the railings; visited the Orangerie. If you video anything while outdoors in this general area, including the Louvre, beware of scoundrels marking you as a tourist. A forcefully gestured "Va via!" ("Get lost!" in Italian) does wonders. Went into the Jeu De Paume, but skipped it as I'd been there before. Metro back to Montparnasse, found a little street with several creperie restaurants. Checked at the rail station to see if there wouldn't be a strike Saturday. By the way, the cabbies were supposedly having a slowdown due to Uber (actually saw one,) but for a New Yorker like me, the traffic didn't look to be that bad. Late evening, but still very light out, went to the top of the Tour Montparnasse with a view comparable to the Eiffel. Crashed at midnight. TGV to Le Mans at 11:00. Had to pick up my tickets on the other side of the airport, so instead of taking the tram, waited for the bus (#21) to the ticket office, but that seemed to be late so I grabbed a different bus that got me halfway there. Easy process to collect the tickets, and an easy walk to a track entrance. Saw a '66 or '7 Mustang with black and orange California plates. Maybe next year I'll drive to France!
My seat was in the last row, open to the concession stand road, airport, etc, but as the prevailing wind was blowing from diagonally opposite, I never got wet during a couple of enormous cloudbursts. (Also, Chinetti and most other grandstands are somewhat covered.)
Some of the best viewing is from either side of the Dunlop bridge: up and downhill esses. It stays fairly light until about 22:30. As anticipated, it got pretty cool during the night and I drank a lot of chocolat chaud. As dawn came, I crashed on a bleacher bench under one of the enclosed buildings and slept for maybe 45 minutes. At about hour 19 or 20, Porsche #20 was leading, and I then allowed some hope they could actually win. The Rebellion Racing cars sounded like the maw of Hell had opened up. The Audis were the quietest, sounding like distant jets, and I'd swear the loudest sound they made was tire roar. The Corvettes had the most distinctive, thundering sound that made my grandstand vibrate as they went by. Didn't view the race end but was still on the grounds, near the exit to the tram. By the way the Internet word for arriving at the track was to take the tram to its terminal stop Antares, but an alternative I noticed on leaving was the next stop up was close to an exit/entrance near Tetre Rouge. Funny seeing a traffic circle with a cop and a barricade: imagine stumbling onto that part of the course, and winding up on the Mulsanne Straight!
Deliberately left time for catching the TGV to CDG, and took a pleasant walk through Le Mans, visiting St Julian cathedral, and passing the usual Brits at taverns downing their "beah." At a cafe right next to the cathedral I had cafe noir and Calvados. At the Gare, my ticket was 1st Class Coach #3, but when the train pulled in the numbering was something like 1,2,2,1, and it was every man for himself to get a seat. Although the SNCF strike wasn't officially on again yet, apparently there were issues with putting the trains together.
So, at CDG, I was booked at the Novotel, but try to figure out how to find the CDGVAL intraterminal shuttle: nonexistant signage for it once you're off the TGV! Anyway, a good meal and a good night's sleep; departing Monday mid-afternoon. Novotels are a good, safe bet probably most anywhere they're located. The day after I got back, I was lacking stimulation and even with good sleep, felt lethargically blah. Now when is that big Nurburgring race?!
Up at 8:00, left the house at about 10 EST, made my way to JFK with plenty of time, slept about half an hour on the plane. Charles De Gaulle around 08:00 Euro time, got to my Montparnasse hotel, Metroed up to the Musee D'Orsay (amazing place!) and although the floors are stone, in my near delirium it felt like thin, unsupported plywood under my feet. Happened to walk over that bridge that's falling apart because of all the lovers' padlocks on the railings; visited the Orangerie. If you video anything while outdoors in this general area, including the Louvre, beware of scoundrels marking you as a tourist. A forcefully gestured "Va via!" ("Get lost!" in Italian) does wonders. Went into the Jeu De Paume, but skipped it as I'd been there before. Metro back to Montparnasse, found a little street with several creperie restaurants. Checked at the rail station to see if there wouldn't be a strike Saturday. By the way, the cabbies were supposedly having a slowdown due to Uber (actually saw one,) but for a New Yorker like me, the traffic didn't look to be that bad. Late evening, but still very light out, went to the top of the Tour Montparnasse with a view comparable to the Eiffel. Crashed at midnight. TGV to Le Mans at 11:00. Had to pick up my tickets on the other side of the airport, so instead of taking the tram, waited for the bus (#21) to the ticket office, but that seemed to be late so I grabbed a different bus that got me halfway there. Easy process to collect the tickets, and an easy walk to a track entrance. Saw a '66 or '7 Mustang with black and orange California plates. Maybe next year I'll drive to France!
My seat was in the last row, open to the concession stand road, airport, etc, but as the prevailing wind was blowing from diagonally opposite, I never got wet during a couple of enormous cloudbursts. (Also, Chinetti and most other grandstands are somewhat covered.)
Some of the best viewing is from either side of the Dunlop bridge: up and downhill esses. It stays fairly light until about 22:30. As anticipated, it got pretty cool during the night and I drank a lot of chocolat chaud. As dawn came, I crashed on a bleacher bench under one of the enclosed buildings and slept for maybe 45 minutes. At about hour 19 or 20, Porsche #20 was leading, and I then allowed some hope they could actually win. The Rebellion Racing cars sounded like the maw of Hell had opened up. The Audis were the quietest, sounding like distant jets, and I'd swear the loudest sound they made was tire roar. The Corvettes had the most distinctive, thundering sound that made my grandstand vibrate as they went by. Didn't view the race end but was still on the grounds, near the exit to the tram. By the way the Internet word for arriving at the track was to take the tram to its terminal stop Antares, but an alternative I noticed on leaving was the next stop up was close to an exit/entrance near Tetre Rouge. Funny seeing a traffic circle with a cop and a barricade: imagine stumbling onto that part of the course, and winding up on the Mulsanne Straight!
Deliberately left time for catching the TGV to CDG, and took a pleasant walk through Le Mans, visiting St Julian cathedral, and passing the usual Brits at taverns downing their "beah." At a cafe right next to the cathedral I had cafe noir and Calvados. At the Gare, my ticket was 1st Class Coach #3, but when the train pulled in the numbering was something like 1,2,2,1, and it was every man for himself to get a seat. Although the SNCF strike wasn't officially on again yet, apparently there were issues with putting the trains together.
So, at CDG, I was booked at the Novotel, but try to figure out how to find the CDGVAL intraterminal shuttle: nonexistant signage for it once you're off the TGV! Anyway, a good meal and a good night's sleep; departing Monday mid-afternoon. Novotels are a good, safe bet probably most anywhere they're located. The day after I got back, I was lacking stimulation and even with good sleep, felt lethargically blah. Now when is that big Nurburgring race?!
| Re: A good part of the 4 days in France were in a state of exquisite, exhilarating exhaustion. (Long) Guenter in Ontario - 9 years ago |
Wow. Thanks for the great write-up. It seems that most, if not all, of your body has reached a pretty good state of recovery to be able to recount those 4 days. Some trips are just like that, but worth every exhausting moment. Obviously, this was one of them.
Yes, while the end result was disappointing, I think the overall picture looks pretty darn good. It did look, until close to the end, that Porsche would finish at or near the top. That would have been pretty incredible for their time back at Le Man.
Yes, while the end result was disappointing, I think the overall picture looks pretty darn good. It did look, until close to the end, that Porsche would finish at or near the top. That would have been pretty incredible for their time back at Le Man.
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