Tuesday - The advance party of Harriet and Terry and the
Budgens got down to a fairly clean field just south of Le Mans at seven'ish. On
the way the escape committee (comprising of Linda, Alf and Andre) tried to make
a bid for Paris but soon realised the error of their ways and returned
unharmed.
Another 'team building exercise' of Erect the Gazebo was
completed twice, to the satisfaction of the management (Harriet). Beer was
drunk under duress as the music kept some of us awake till dawn, then in H
& T's tent the alarm set for the previous morning had to be both hunted
down and killed.
Wednesday saw us doing the Great
British Raindance - we bought a bar-b-que - and it rained all day and most of
the night! To while away the sleepless hours Terry entertained Harriet by
sitting (buck naked) on the floor of their tent, mallet poised above his head,
waiting to give Arthur the Cricket a playful tap. Arthur however, did not want
to play that game and continued to play hide and seek every night
thereafter!
Thursday - Barry and Jenny turned up at
12 - then after the tent erecting ritual the 'frog train' went shopping to the
Super U in Arnage; air conditioned and selling bottled ice!!! Night practice
saw us getting our tickets and finding the new earthworks (viewing bank) at
Tetre Rouge. The changes meant less mountain climbing and better
views.
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Thursday night was party night so the
hourly firework displays were much appreciated. Unfortunately when sleeping in
a tent, (unless your name is Andre Budgen) there comes a point when the heat
becomes unbearable and regardless of the amount of sleep you haven't had, the
tent needs to be vacated.
So after the sun ran us out of our tents on Saturday morning
(hangover optional!) We tried to go to the supermarket to replenish the beer
stocks (Jenny only wanted water!). We gave up in Arnage after a French woman
nearly sacrificed herself to get us on our way round the roundabout, where it
was discovered 3 into 1 doesn't go! and ended up in Allennes. On our return we
had to stop and get directions. Fortunately, having stopped outside a Sorting
Office we were shown the error of our ways by an English speaking Postie.
One of the luxuries of driving a Frog is
that people don't grimace when you ask for help, they smile!
We decided as it was a motor race and that the start was
imminent, we would have a spot of lunch, then wander up to watch the race.
Plugged in to Radio Le Mans, an hour later the Audis had been crowned the
victors by most. Makes for a rather boring race, even if it is the start of an
era of powerful, fast, economical and quiet racing cars.
Sunday - As always there is a lot of toing and froing to watch
the race, the most popular time being Sunrise - (only day of the year for me!).
It was a hot race that had been won from the start but some of us made it up
the track for the fight between the Aston Martins and the Corvettes. (Sorry
John, but as the Panoz have gone back to their old engine it did sound better
than the Corvettes)
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So with Terry & Harriet off on the
Pitwalk, Linda, Alf, Barry and Jenny went to St Saturnin to look at some cars.
More performance cars than classics, but hey it was enjoyable. Jenny approved
of the cake stall, so all was not lost!
Friday night saw our star performer do a turn,
cartwheels mostly, but some dancing and a beautiful pirouette to finish! (Name
withheld to protect his blushes). The moral of this story - regularly check
legs still in working order by fetching your own beer.
We legged it back to the tent (quick wash and change
into clean (?) clothes) and a Frog tour of Mulsanne for a meal.
Andre was stuffed in the back of the Budgies Frog and the
Police (proper kepi's) opened up the road for us. We did wonder about trying
for the record 'up the straight' but decided not. Eat drink and be merry, for
tomorrow you get back on a ferry. And so to England, sat on this ferry writing
this, it all seems so many beers ago (and probably was).
So, already thinking about whether or not to return next year -
it's a bit like childbirth, after a while you forget how painful it was and
can't wait to do it again! We will presently dock in Portsmouth before all
going our separate ways. Oh well, Thursday night is the
meeting……. |
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