Suggested Itenairy
Discussion
Hi,
First time visitors to Le Mans, I wonder if any regulars could furnish me with a suggested itenairy.
We are flying to Paris then driving from Paris on Friday Morning Flying back Monday Morning. We are camping at Blue Nord.
Two travelling one of whitch is a very keen photographer.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks
First time visitors to Le Mans, I wonder if any regulars could furnish me with a suggested itenairy.
We are flying to Paris then driving from Paris on Friday Morning Flying back Monday Morning. We are camping at Blue Nord.
Two travelling one of whitch is a very keen photographer.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks
Assuming you are arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport at Roissy you come out of the airport and simply follow the signs for Bordeaux.The other side of Paris there is a toll booth and when you leave the toll don't whatever you do, speed off in the outside lane - keep right because the motorway splits in two and the Le Mans direction is the right hand mtorway.
Now well and truly established on the right road just keep going, continuing around Le Mans towards Tours (A28) until you see the sign for ZI Nord. Exit here and then follow the ring road marked Laval which will bring you right to the circuit. All the campings (blue, gree etc.) are well marked.
Photography will be not easy since for health and safety problems you will be a long way from the track so I hope your friend has long lenses - I recommend at least 400mm and more for good shots.
Now well and truly established on the right road just keep going, continuing around Le Mans towards Tours (A28) until you see the sign for ZI Nord. Exit here and then follow the ring road marked Laval which will bring you right to the circuit. All the campings (blue, gree etc.) are well marked.
Photography will be not easy since for health and safety problems you will be a long way from the track so I hope your friend has long lenses - I recommend at least 400mm and more for good shots.
Your plan of action should be:
1) arrive at campsite and setup tent.
2) if you haven't stopped en route, go out to supermarket for cold drinks.
3) The main options for spending your time on Friday are: the open pitlane, the PH meet
at Indianapolis, watching cars in Arnage village, the British Welcome in whatever that
village is at the bottom end of the N138, the town square in Chartres-sur-le-loir.
4) Into the evening, you can head into town for the drivers' parade and drinking with both
hands.
5) Saturday and Sunday: Clear the hangover by strolling around the village and trackside area
before bagging a decent spot to watch the start. Make the effort to get out to Arnage corner
at some stage. That's about it.
1) arrive at campsite and setup tent.
2) if you haven't stopped en route, go out to supermarket for cold drinks.
3) The main options for spending your time on Friday are: the open pitlane, the PH meet
at Indianapolis, watching cars in Arnage village, the British Welcome in whatever that
village is at the bottom end of the N138, the town square in Chartres-sur-le-loir.
4) Into the evening, you can head into town for the drivers' parade and drinking with both
hands.
5) Saturday and Sunday: Clear the hangover by strolling around the village and trackside area
before bagging a decent spot to watch the start. Make the effort to get out to Arnage corner
at some stage. That's about it.
If you make good time down you should be able to catch some of the “Mad Friday” antics. Take a drive around the circuit there will be every type of sportscar you can imagine parked up on the verges, usually burnouts at the café on the Mulsanne or Arnage (Gendarmes permitting). I believe the pit lane is also open on Friday although I’ve not paid a visit myself yet.
Friday night sees the drivers parade in Le Mans town, there’s a bus from the main circuit entrance but getting a cab back can be a pain. Very much a party atmosphere although the authorities have toned things down in recent years by switching off the fountain and maintaining a large police presence. If you don’t fancy that grab a few beers and head for the Houx Annexe roundabout for burnouts, fireworks, super-soakers naked bike/scooter/chair racing and other general lunacy.
If you can face getting up on Saturday morning there’s the support race, usually historics, I think we’re due 1970/80s this year. The main event starts an hour earlier than usual, at 3pm, you’ve 24 hours to make your way around the viewing areas, there are enclosures at Mulsanne, Arnage & the Porsche Curves, the AOC run free coaches to these. You can also view from the café on the Mulsanne straight although it’s very limited, you have to stand on a table to see over the fencing. Whatever you’re doing you can always follow the race by tuning into Radio Le Mans.
Last year the Charaltans played a concert on the Saturday night, Jamiroquai also played a few years ago. Not sure if there’re plans to do one this year or not.
Sunday evening the antics start again at the Houx Annexe roundabout if you’ve enough energy left to stay up.
On your tight schedule you’re unlikely to have any spare time but the circuit museum and town/cathederal are worth a visit.
Friday night sees the drivers parade in Le Mans town, there’s a bus from the main circuit entrance but getting a cab back can be a pain. Very much a party atmosphere although the authorities have toned things down in recent years by switching off the fountain and maintaining a large police presence. If you don’t fancy that grab a few beers and head for the Houx Annexe roundabout for burnouts, fireworks, super-soakers naked bike/scooter/chair racing and other general lunacy.
If you can face getting up on Saturday morning there’s the support race, usually historics, I think we’re due 1970/80s this year. The main event starts an hour earlier than usual, at 3pm, you’ve 24 hours to make your way around the viewing areas, there are enclosures at Mulsanne, Arnage & the Porsche Curves, the AOC run free coaches to these. You can also view from the café on the Mulsanne straight although it’s very limited, you have to stand on a table to see over the fencing. Whatever you’re doing you can always follow the race by tuning into Radio Le Mans.
Last year the Charaltans played a concert on the Saturday night, Jamiroquai also played a few years ago. Not sure if there’re plans to do one this year or not.
Sunday evening the antics start again at the Houx Annexe roundabout if you’ve enough energy left to stay up.
On your tight schedule you’re unlikely to have any spare time but the circuit museum and town/cathederal are worth a visit.
All pretty much covered above....
Unless the Vette gets invited to do the parade again this year I'll be heading for the pits and maybe St Saturnin.
For pictures the best spot I've found is on the outside of the circuit on the side of the Dunlop Bridge facing Tetre Rouge. On the Thursday avo practice I got some absolute beauts hanging on the bridge. It's worth having someone to hold your bag while you scale the barrier/fencing but it's worth it. Don't hog it though, give yourself 5-10 mins tops and then get down or I'll be forced to pull down your shorts and run off giggling.
Also, the Mulsanne Corner is quite good for lunchtime shots. As for dusk type shots I found that the Karting track gives you a good view point towards the exit of Porsche Curves and is well lit.
Night shots are a waste of time, get busy drinking and leave the expensive camera locked in the car.
Unless the Vette gets invited to do the parade again this year I'll be heading for the pits and maybe St Saturnin.
For pictures the best spot I've found is on the outside of the circuit on the side of the Dunlop Bridge facing Tetre Rouge. On the Thursday avo practice I got some absolute beauts hanging on the bridge. It's worth having someone to hold your bag while you scale the barrier/fencing but it's worth it. Don't hog it though, give yourself 5-10 mins tops and then get down or I'll be forced to pull down your shorts and run off giggling.
Also, the Mulsanne Corner is quite good for lunchtime shots. As for dusk type shots I found that the Karting track gives you a good view point towards the exit of Porsche Curves and is well lit.
Night shots are a waste of time, get busy drinking and leave the expensive camera locked in the car.
You need to get to LM as soon as you can on Friday.
Are you camping? If so you need to get yourself some space (unless you're on Houx) and sort yourself out with tents, food etc. ASAP, you don't really want to go out of the circuit on Saturday unless you're really desparate.
Friday - if you've got transport think about going into LM for the drivers parade - it's becoming a bit of a farce though unless you're prepared to stand by a barrier for four hours in the heat. The traffic is tricky with the tramway works and personally I'd suggest you leave the parade until next year when the tramline will be up and running.
Friday - open pitlane if you get there in time (not sure of the timings on it?)
Friday night, wander around the campsite, the roads etc. Watch out for the nob-heads driving round pissed. You do need to have your wits around you as a lot of folks have left their brains at home for safe keeping....
Saturday, watch the support races - they are usually very good. Have a bit of downtime, recover from friday night get ready to watch the start. If you want to get along the start/finish straight you'll need to be there a good couple of hours early. Otherwise wander up to some of the banking around MB/Ford Chicane etc where you'll be able to turn up and watch the start without too much trouble.
We tend to watch the start and the first hour or so and then wander back to the campsite, relax and let the temperature cool down a bit. We then wander off around 8/9pm to wander around the circuit, round the outside of Dunlop and all the way around to Tetre Rouge and then walk back along the inside of the circuit to the Village at midnight ish. It's a lot nicer walking round at night when its cooler.
You can get busses out to Mulsanne and Indianappolis etc - just be careful about getting back - the last few busses are always rammed and its quite easy to get stuck out there!
We have a couple of hours sleep (wimps I know!) and then get up around 4am to wander round to Dunlop/Tetre Rouge with big mugs of coffee to watch sun up.
Back to the tent for some brekkie and then another wander to Ford/MB banking to watch a bit more before bedding in for the finish.
We then walk down to the pitlane to watch the presenations - it'll be rammed for the first "main" presentation, by the time you get to the GT classes you'll have a good view and we can always get to cheer on the brits in the GT classes!
Enjoy!
Are you camping? If so you need to get yourself some space (unless you're on Houx) and sort yourself out with tents, food etc. ASAP, you don't really want to go out of the circuit on Saturday unless you're really desparate.
Friday - if you've got transport think about going into LM for the drivers parade - it's becoming a bit of a farce though unless you're prepared to stand by a barrier for four hours in the heat. The traffic is tricky with the tramway works and personally I'd suggest you leave the parade until next year when the tramline will be up and running.
Friday - open pitlane if you get there in time (not sure of the timings on it?)
Friday night, wander around the campsite, the roads etc. Watch out for the nob-heads driving round pissed. You do need to have your wits around you as a lot of folks have left their brains at home for safe keeping....
Saturday, watch the support races - they are usually very good. Have a bit of downtime, recover from friday night get ready to watch the start. If you want to get along the start/finish straight you'll need to be there a good couple of hours early. Otherwise wander up to some of the banking around MB/Ford Chicane etc where you'll be able to turn up and watch the start without too much trouble.
We tend to watch the start and the first hour or so and then wander back to the campsite, relax and let the temperature cool down a bit. We then wander off around 8/9pm to wander around the circuit, round the outside of Dunlop and all the way around to Tetre Rouge and then walk back along the inside of the circuit to the Village at midnight ish. It's a lot nicer walking round at night when its cooler.
You can get busses out to Mulsanne and Indianappolis etc - just be careful about getting back - the last few busses are always rammed and its quite easy to get stuck out there!
We have a couple of hours sleep (wimps I know!) and then get up around 4am to wander round to Dunlop/Tetre Rouge with big mugs of coffee to watch sun up.
Back to the tent for some brekkie and then another wander to Ford/MB banking to watch a bit more before bedding in for the finish.
We then walk down to the pitlane to watch the presenations - it'll be rammed for the first "main" presentation, by the time you get to the GT classes you'll have a good view and we can always get to cheer on the brits in the GT classes!
Enjoy!
If you're getting in Friday I'd suggest that you give the parade a miss. It'd take a while to get set-up site wise and then getting to the parade could be a absolute ball ache. HA roundabout is a bit of a wander from Bleu Nord but might be worth it for an hour or so.
If it was me though, I'd set up camp, enjoy some cold ones and then head over the road to find the Drinking For Holland boys in Maison Blanche. Met a few of them at the LMES this year and had a belting time!
If it was me though, I'd set up camp, enjoy some cold ones and then head over the road to find the Drinking For Holland boys in Maison Blanche. Met a few of them at the LMES this year and had a belting time!
digger man said:
Do Not take any clothes, just what you travel in.
Cords/jeans in hypermarket 4/5 euro's
boxers pack of 3 for 4/5 euro's
socks 2/3 euro's
take a waterproof jacket and some shoes/boots.
Cords/jeans in hypermarket 4/5 euro's
boxers pack of 3 for 4/5 euro's
socks 2/3 euro's
take a waterproof jacket and some shoes/boots.
But if he's not arriving until later on Friday why on earth would you want to faff around buying clothes! They're barely gonna have time to buy food and beer before the mayhem starts!
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