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As always at the
start of the race, unless you have a front row position, or are seated in the
grandstand, there is little point in taking pictures of the cars until the race
begins to settle down. In 1990, my first shots of the cars were taken at
about 5.50 p.m., almost two hours into the race! As usual, we then started
the clockwise migration around the circuit, from the Dunlop Curve down to the
Esses. The journey was then retraced, and, for the first time in five
years, we went as far (on foot) as we could in the other direction, taking us
within sight of the end of the Porsche Curves. (You have to bear in mind
that a large proportion of the circuit, probably as much as 75%, is not
accessible to the general public, and is kept that way by large numbers of
patrolling gendarmes).
As the evening
drew on, for the first time in all my trips to Le Mans, the team missed out on
the evening meal at Hunaudieres. On a previous trip to France, Alan
had come upon a small restaurant, about five or six miles away from the circuit,
in a small village called Moncé en Belin, near to Arnage, called Le Belinois.
He was sufficiently taken with the restaurant and its cuisine, to suggest to Ian
that a table should be booked for our Saturday evening meal. Without a
doubt, one of Alan's better ideas!
The restaurant
was quite 'posh', serving an up-market clientele, and I suspect that the staff
were a little taken aback when four dirty and dusty racegoers (including one in
grubby jeans and t-shirt - guess who?!), descended upon them. Still, they
took it all with good grace as I suspect do the vast majority of the locals on
the one week-end each year when their town is taken over by motor racing fans.
(They did hide us upstairs in a corner though, obviously not wanting us to
"contaminate" their other clients!).
The restaurant
had another terrific advantage in that it boasted excellent loos, together with
soap, hot water and towels! Although we were only five hours or so into
the twenty-four, we were already sweaty and dusty in the hot, dry weather.
This was therefore seen as a heaven-sent opportunity for a wash and brush-up
before our meal!
The restaurant
was also the venue for the evening meal of some of the gendarmes, who turn out
in force for the race, primarily to control the traffic around the surrounding
roads. They were eating on trestle tables, out in the car park! The
food at
Le Belinois was superb, probably the best that we had sampled in France
since my trips began in 1986. We spent an excellent evening at the
restaurant, thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Following a fairly lengthy
meal, we then headed back to the circuit and the garage rouge.
The Le Belinois Restaurant - sadly no more....
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