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So
that was that - another 24 Hours was over and we left the circuit and got away from
Le Mans pretty quickly, having parked the car so close to our exit point at
Tertre Rouge. Having flown over to Paris in the first place we were
returning there to stay in the same hotel as on Friday night. As always,
having had no sleep at all since then, the journey away from the circuit
was a complete mystery to me and I have no recollection of it at all. I
just remember getting back to the room I was again sharing with Jeff, feeling
incredibly tired and having no desire at all to go out and join the rest of the
guys in the bar across the road. So I had a nice shower to make me feel a
little more human again and a quick nap before heading out the join them for
that beer. Having
had a refreshing drink or two, we decided to take the very short walk up the
hill to Montmartre, to take in a few of those so typical picture postcard French
sights. Well, we were in Paris, so you've got to, haven't you? As it
happens, it was the first time I've been back to Paris for the best part of 30
years, so it was rather nice.
Jeff
had arranged a table in advance for us for our evening meal. Sadly (and
unusually) my
memory fails me as to the name of the restaurant, although it was slightly
unusual in having a fresh fish counter at the front, a bar in the middle which
was apparently routinely frequented by transvestites and a rather nice
restaurant at the back..... The langoustine were very good and the fish,
expertly filleted at the table, was as good as any fish I've ever eaten in
France. A good meal indeed and what turned out to be an excellent (if very
hot) choice of restaurant by Jeff.
After
the meal, we wandered down the road to take in a coffee and watch the Parisien
nightlife go by...... (Sadly there were no Led Zeppelin playing pianists
this time....... 
Strangely,
the atmosphere seemed slightly subdued. I guess we were all still pretty
tired. I certainly needed my bed, particularly after the long walk back up
the hill to the hotel. While the others stopped for a final beer at the
bar across the road, I gave up gracefully to the need for sleep and retired to
my room. I don't know about anyone else but I certainly slept well that
night!
In
the morning it was a fairly straight-forward routine, up for breakfast and then
to the car to drive into the centre of Paris for a tour on an open-topped
bus! Well, as I've said before, if you're visiting one of the great
capital cities, you just have to see the sights, don't you?
And
so, with the Eiffel Tower receding in the background, the photographic record of
the Tourists trip to Le Mans in 2005 comes to a close. After an excellent
tour (during which we almost fried on top of that bus!), we drove back to the
hotel and, with the earliest flight to catch, Jeff, Alan and I took a taxi back
to the airport to catch our flight back to Bournemouth.
All
in all, it was an unusual Le Mans trip, wholly different to the previous 19 and
a little whistle-stop at times! The anxieties of Saturday lunchtime are
hopefully not going to be repeated again (!) and, with luck and a fair wind,
we'll be back to something closer to our normal routine in 2006. As
always, I hope you've enjoyed reading the story and looking at the photographs,
particularly as I've been able to upload so many more this year. Looking
forward to seeing you at the great race some time.....
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