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James and I had known that Tuesday was going
to be our day of "rest" and we originally toyed with the idea of a visit to a
chateau with maybe a nice lunch somewhere, but by the time we both surfaced at
around 10 am, neither of us was particularly inclined to drive for miles, so
instead we took a leisurely drive into Arnage for a coffee and then bought
ourselves some croissants and pain au chocolat to eat down by the river - a
really pleasant way to take breakfast! I was quite keen to visit the Le Mans
museum - after 24 visits to Le Mans I'd still never made it! So I was
determined to take the chance this year.
But before heading to the museum we drove
back to the main part of the circuit via Indianapolis and Arnage. It's been a
few years now since I've done this and even though we were still a full day away
from any on-track action, we both knew this was something that we just had
to do and I snapped the moment for posterity! James even took a picture of me
leaning on the tyre wall on the exit of Indianapolis, if only to prove to my
wife Jayne that I really was there! After that brief moment to record the
fact that we were standing on seriously hallowed ground we set off again. I
remember our conversation at the time well - if we lived in Le Mans, wouldn't we
just have to drive on the circuit at sometime, somewhere, every
day?!! Go on, admit it - you would, wouldn't you?!
I suppose we finally got into the museum at
about 12.30, and the visit itself was excellent, from the Rondeau exhibition
right through the old and rare exotica and on to the wondrous Group C cars that
graced the 24 Hours in 1986 when I first visited the great race.
I couldn't help but linger over the 1991
race winning Mazda 787B and the marvellous 1988 winning Silk Cut Jaguar - cars
that really brought back memories - as did the 1994 Dauer Porsche, which I've
always described as the "imposter GT" - the car that robbed Toyota of the
victory they deserved that year.
We also paused at one of the final exhibits,
(for those who've not been to the museum, the cars are generally arranged in
chronological order, from the oldest to the youngest - or thereabouts), the car
from which James inherited his Ten Tenths moniker, the number 7 Bentley which
won the race in 2003.
I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, even if it
left me with the feeling that the museum layout and facilities lacked a little
imagination - but I guess having seen many of these cars in action, a purely
static display is always likely to have that effect. More seemed to be
provided for the early years, with film footage and non-car exhibits but the
period from the 60s onwards is basically just two lines of cars - stunning,
beautiful cars, but stationary museum pieces that just beg to be out on the
track. Just imagine the spectator interest, for example, if the glorious Charge/
Renown Mazda from 1991 could have had a run in the Group C race - for many it
would have been worth the entry ticket price just to see that alone!
By the time we left the museum it was gone
two o'clock and our thoughts were rapidly turning to our stomachs. We decided to
head back to Auchan to grab some food and then find somewhere to eat it. What is
it about these huge French supermarkets? They seem to sell absolutely everything
and I could have spent a fortune in there! In the end we limited ourselves to
baguettes and cakes and drink and headed off to a nearby lake (near to where
James had stayed on previous trips), to munch our lunch.
The weather had been rather unpredictable
with showers in the morning when we stopped for coffee at Arnage and the sky was
now giving a clear impression that there was more on the way. It was while we
were having our late lunch that I received a text from Paul Truswell of Radio
Le Mans. Again, regular readers will know that Paul and I have known each
other for a number of years now, and each year we try and at least find some
time to have a chat at Le Mans. Paul was expecting to arrive on the outskirts of
Le Mans soon and we agreed to meet him back at our hotel, so with the weather
threatening to break again and time marching ever on, we headed back to the
hotel relax for a while and await Paul's arrival.
And Paul was not only pretty much bang on
time but brought an improvement in the weather with him! After exchanging
pleasantries in the car park- as you do - we took the chance to talk sports cars
for half an hour before heading off to the Buffalo Grill again for coffee, where
the conversation continued! Discussing Le Mans - and sports car racing in
general - with Paul is always both entertaining and enlightening and having
returned to the hotel to pore over some of the stats from last year's race, we
concluded it would be a much better idea if we adjourned to Courtepaille
(again!) for dinner to make a proper evening of it. And an excellent evening it
was too! Considering that today had been our "rest day", we actually managed to
extract an awful lot of sports car related entertainment out of it. And the week
was still only just beginning - and the cars would finally hit the track
tomorrow!
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