Le Mans 2016: The Race

We had Grandstand tickets and went to our seats for the start of the race so we could get the best view. Unfortunately it started raining just before the race was due to get underway. The race was started under the safety car and stayed that way for most of the first hour.

The sun came out again and we went racing!

We walked further around the track to watch from Tertre Rouge and the inside of the Forest Esses.

We went back to the pit straight and timed it right to see both Corvette Racing cars come in for pit stops.

The sun set and we walked back to the Porsche Curves where we could watch from the Travel Destinations campsite viewing bank.

The number 47 KCMG LMP2 car went off in front of us and we watched the marshals recover it before getting a bit of sleep just before 2am.

About five hours later we were back! Unfortunately our favourite car, the 64 Corvette, crashed out of the race just as we were getting up again.

In the daylight we could get a good view of the 47 car behind the barriers.

As the morning went on it got sunnier and warmer. Sunday turned into a really nice day.

We listened to Radio Le Mans all through the race so we always knew what was going on.

There was so much still happening in the last couple of hours of the race, but nothing more dramatic than the race leading number 5 Toyota LMP1 car breaking down a few minutes before the end of the race when it was so close to winning. 

The number 2 Porsche won from the number 6 Toyota and the number 8 Audi was in third.

It was a great race in LMP1 but the way it ended was such a shock! 

It was a shame that Corvette Racing didn’t have a better race, but there was a lot of action in LMGTE Pro with the Ford GT cars battling with the Risi Competizione Ferrari.

After the race we drove to Calais on Sunday evening and stayed at the Novotel Suite hotel that is very handy for the Channel crossings.

On Monday morning Zoë and I enjoyed the buffet breakfast before catching our P&O Ferry back to the UK.

Le Mans 2016: Before the Race

We set off for France last Thursday on a P&O Ferry to Calais.

We drove down to Le Mans stopping a couple of times, including at our favourite services in the countryside.

We arrived at about 10.30pm in a very heavy rain shower! We stayed with Travel Destinations in one of their Event Tents, a very nicely fitted out bell tent. We were extremely happy that we didn’t have to put up a tent in the rain!

The final qualifying session was disrupted by the rain, but we got to see the last fifteen minutes before the end of the session at midnight.

The next morning we could admire the field of bell tents and have some coffee at the campsite food tent.

On Friday the pit lane was open so we were able to go and see all the cars up close. 

As always we were supporting Corvette Racing in LMGTE Pro and the two other Corvettes in LMGTE Am, but I was also excited by the Algarve Pro Racing number 25 car in LMP2 that has Sir Chris Hoy as one of its drivers!

After walking down the pit lane we could go on the track up to the Dunlop Bridge. It was fun to walk on the circuit!

We also got to see the race winners trophy.

On Saturday morning we watched the support races from the Porsche Curves.

Now we just had a couple of hours to wait until the race start!

Le Mans 24 Hour Race 2014

Race Day! The Corvette Corral was very busy with people looking at all the cars in the morning.

We had a look in the Corvette Racing shop, but didn’t buy anything.

We started watching the race from our grandstand seats. Luckily we were sitting here when it rained!

We went back to the Corvette Corral in the late afternoon to watch the race into the night.

We stayed near the Corvette Corral the next morning to watch the final stages of the race. The Corvettes finished 2nd (73 car) and 4th (74 car) in their class.

We had a great time and enjoyed the race.

Drivers Parade

We managed to get to Le Mans and find the Corvette Corral by lunchtime on Friday. We had heard that some of the Corvette Racing drivers were going to be there in the early afternoon.

We got to park our Corvette in a special area with lots of other Corvettes including the new C7.

We were lucky to see Ron Fellows, and current 73 car driver, Jordan Taylor.

We were even luckier to get to be part of the Drivers Parade. We drove to the centre of Le Mans and parked up with all the other participants. There were lots of interesting cars to look at.

I loved these child sized cars, still a bit big for me though!

Then it became very exciting when all the drivers came out. We spotted Mark Webber.

We went off to find the Corvette Racing drivers. 74 car drivers; Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook.

And the 73 car drivers; Jan Magnussen and Jordan Taylor.

We then drove through Le Mans and the big crowds of people. It was very excited even though it took a few hours!

Rouen

We spent our first night in France staying at the Mercure hotel in Rouen. It was right next to the cathedral in the centre of the town. We arrived in the late afternoon, which left us plenty of time to explore.

The cathedral was very impressive.

There are lots of old streets lined with interesting buildings.

And some wide open squares.

And a big gold clock!

The next morning we had an early start to get to Le Mans, I made sure I had a big breakfast to keep me going!

Hythe and Across the Sea

We went on a big adventure last week! A trip to France for the Le Mans 24 Hour race in the Corvette. We started our trip with a stop in Hythe on Wednesday evening.

We stayed in a big sea front hotel. The room was very large with a gigantic bed.

In the morning we had a hearty breakfast and then a little walk on the beach as we were just over the road from the sea.

Then we caught our train under the sea to France.

Once we were in France we stopped for some lunch, a nice big salad.

We travelled on to Rouen, more on that soon!

Crochet in Chamonix

My holiday to Chamonix is now over and I am back home. I have a last picture to share with you. We saw this lamp post yarn bombed with some crochet granny squares. Paul and I thought Zoë would like to see it.

Can you see me in the picture?

Here I am!

More from Chamonix

Our holiday is nearly over but we have had a great time. On Thursday we had a strange experience of snow and sunshine at the same time!

Here are some pictures from up in the mountains.

Paul let me share his pasta and his beer, he did have rather a lot of beer!

Return to Chamonix

I am currently on holiday in Chamonix! Paul let me join him on his snowboarding holiday. It is great to be back here, I am having lots of fun.

Here are some pictures from our first couple of days. We left home on Saturday and arrived Sunday morning after a very long coach journey. I have managed to get out on the snow and see the mountains, and drink lots of beer!

Weekend in Paris

Zoë and Paul took me to Paris again, this time for a short weekend shopping trip. We went on Eurostar.

We stayed at the Pullman Hotel in La Defense, slightly fancier than normal for us!

I really like La Defense, the tall buildings are interesting and the big arch is massive!

We arrived on Friday evening and got up early on Saturday so we could fit loads in. We started with the flea markets.

We had time to go to the Christmas Market in La Defense on Saturday evening, it was very festive.

On Sunday we went shopping in La Defense before going shopping in the Marais. Here I am standing under the arch so you can see down to the Arc de Triomphe.

We had some breakfast at Pret.

Zoë and Paul bought some of their favourite Kusmi Tea.

Before we knew it we had to get back to the station for the train home.