What to bring, what to buy
Discussion
We always buy a cheap metal barbecue for about 12 euros and then just sling it away after the race. It saves setting your car on fire or it smelling like an old burger van on the way home. The supermarket is huge and you can buy everything you need there.
Edited by julesv on Sunday 18th March 21:50
Red bull is hard to get hold of in France, (it goes quite nicely with vodka)so buy it in the uk before you travel. DONT FORGET THE HANGOVER PILLS!!! As the others have said the rest of the gear you can buy in Le Mans, BUT...You have to remember Le Mans is seriously busy, and all the time youre in a traffic jam means youre not chilled out, drinking beer and watching racing!!!! the choice is yours! oh and one other thing, get a good local map of Le Mans, it makes getting to those supermarkets much eaiser. (MAP WARNING)... English maps almost always have North at the top of the page, FRENCH MAPS DONT! make sure youre going in the right direction and Good Luck.
Oh, and one other thing, it would be rude not to bring down a few FIREWORKS!!!
Oh, and one other thing, it would be rude not to bring down a few FIREWORKS!!!
Edited by fatboy18 on Sunday 18th March 22:31
Hi FBoy,
Getting a good Le Mans map is a great idea. I got mine from Stanfords website at www.stanfords.co.uk. It cost maybe £5 including postage, delivered in a couple of days. I think if I let you know my quick way into the circuit from the North and Centre of Le Mans my route may get crowded!
Another essential item to bring is a small FM pocket radio and 'phones. You can then get Radio Le Mans from about a 10 miles radius of the circuit. Radio Le Mans starts to be braoadcast from the Wednesday evening, I think, and is for the 75,000 or so English fans at the event. It's about the only way to follow the race all the time and keep up with everything else going on. The PA system is in French of course.
R
Getting a good Le Mans map is a great idea. I got mine from Stanfords website at www.stanfords.co.uk. It cost maybe £5 including postage, delivered in a couple of days. I think if I let you know my quick way into the circuit from the North and Centre of Le Mans my route may get crowded!
Another essential item to bring is a small FM pocket radio and 'phones. You can then get Radio Le Mans from about a 10 miles radius of the circuit. Radio Le Mans starts to be braoadcast from the Wednesday evening, I think, and is for the 75,000 or so English fans at the event. It's about the only way to follow the race all the time and keep up with everything else going on. The PA system is in French of course.
R
Good call on the personal radio, THATS A MUST HAVE. We also took 2 way walkie talkies with us last year, they were great in the cars on the way down to Le Mans, saved us a small fortune in mobile phone calls trying to find a quick way through town. But there was a lot of people using them over the weekend round the track.
As said radio is a must have. Walkie talkies is a good idea as well, we have a couple of sets.
Some of the decision depends on when you are going down. If you are going to arrive on Friday you don't want to be faffing around trying to get to Carrefour, Auchan etc. The traffic will be dreadful and there are better things you could and should be doing and you'd want to take as much stuff with you as you can, possible even food if you've got space.
Also if you're arriving later in the week I've always found cheap BBQ's are like rocking horse droppings. A few years ago we ended up spending a lot of money on a BBQ that we couldn't bring home as there were NO cheap ones or disposables to be had.
You can buy bags of charcoal in any of the supermarkets, make sure you've got some lighter fuel or similar we find the cheap stuff there is quite difficult to get lit sometimes.
If you're arriving earlier in the week, buy lots there, wandering round the supermarkets and Decathlon is part of the trip!
Some of the decision depends on when you are going down. If you are going to arrive on Friday you don't want to be faffing around trying to get to Carrefour, Auchan etc. The traffic will be dreadful and there are better things you could and should be doing and you'd want to take as much stuff with you as you can, possible even food if you've got space.
Also if you're arriving later in the week I've always found cheap BBQ's are like rocking horse droppings. A few years ago we ended up spending a lot of money on a BBQ that we couldn't bring home as there were NO cheap ones or disposables to be had.
You can buy bags of charcoal in any of the supermarkets, make sure you've got some lighter fuel or similar we find the cheap stuff there is quite difficult to get lit sometimes.
If you're arriving earlier in the week, buy lots there, wandering round the supermarkets and Decathlon is part of the trip!
@ edcase.
Buy a BBQ in the supermarket. You can get a proper metal stand up job for €20 (nothing if split between a load of you) then just leave it for the gypsies to recycle after the race. All you really need to take is your camping equipment. Everything else you can get there. Well worth buying a gazeebo though. Protection from both the rain and the sun!
Buy a BBQ in the supermarket. You can get a proper metal stand up job for €20 (nothing if split between a load of you) then just leave it for the gypsies to recycle after the race. All you really need to take is your camping equipment. Everything else you can get there. Well worth buying a gazeebo though. Protection from both the rain and the sun!
stillgrinning said:
.....cause you need a new bed don't you Martin........
No...I got a new one as soon as I got home to Spain.
For those that don't know the story...I had a fantastic camping bed (only 40 Euros from Decathlon) and 4 fat bastweeds decided to use it as a sofa with inevitable results
Martin.
ETA - Ian...what make were those 2 way radios we had last year and whos were they. I've just got a pair of Motorola T5422's and hope they're compatible.
Edited by V6GTO on Tuesday 20th March 17:37
Hi there
On Club arnage we're once again compiling a guide for the next 24 hours of le Mans, see www.clubarnage.com/caguide. About your question what to bring see our recommendations at www.clubarnage.com/caguide/caguide2007/c12-whattotake.pdf
about where to buy food & drink see www.clubarnage.com/caguide/caguide2007/c14-shopping.pdf
It's not finished yet but already a lot of information in it
Cheers
Werner
On Club arnage we're once again compiling a guide for the next 24 hours of le Mans, see www.clubarnage.com/caguide. About your question what to bring see our recommendations at www.clubarnage.com/caguide/caguide2007/c12-whattotake.pdf
about where to buy food & drink see www.clubarnage.com/caguide/caguide2007/c14-shopping.pdf
It's not finished yet but already a lot of information in it
Cheers
Werner
dark glasses 
to ogle the Hawian Tropic girls lots of beer 
and something to cool them in. A radio to listen to the race they sell small ones with ear plugs at the track. fireworks for night time fun. comfy chairs to sit and soak up the atmosphere. comfy walking shoes as you will do alot of walking to the pits grandstands and as much of the tracj as possible.A fast car for the drive down. Camera / dvd recorder to take lots of pics so when you get home you can spend the next 12 months looking at them and remembering what a good time you had. poss change of under wear.Oh and some beer
Billy
to ogle the Hawian Tropic girls lots of beer and something to cool them in. A radio to listen to the race they sell small ones with ear plugs at the track. fireworks for night time fun. comfy chairs to sit and soak up the atmosphere. comfy walking shoes as you will do alot of walking to the pits grandstands and as much of the tracj as possible.A fast car for the drive down. Camera / dvd recorder to take lots of pics so when you get home you can spend the next 12 months looking at them and remembering what a good time you had. poss change of under wear.Oh and some beer Billy
billy no brakes said:
dark glasses to ogle the Hawian Tropic girls lots of beer and something to cool them in. A radio to listen to the race they sell small ones with ear plugs at the track. fireworks for night time fun. comfy chairs to sit and soak up the atmosphere. comfy walking shoes as you will do alot of walking to the pits grandstands and as much of the tracj as possible.A fast car for the drive down. Camera / dvd recorder to take lots of pics so when you get home you can spend the next 12 months looking at them and remembering what a good time you had. poss change of under wear.Oh and some beer
Billy
to ogle the Hawian Tropic girls lots of beer and something to cool them in. A radio to listen to the race they sell small ones with ear plugs at the track. fireworks for night time fun. comfy chairs to sit and soak up the atmosphere. comfy walking shoes as you will do alot of walking to the pits grandstands and as much of the tracj as possible.A fast car for the drive down. Camera / dvd recorder to take lots of pics so when you get home you can spend the next 12 months looking at them and remembering what a good time you had. poss change of under wear.Oh and some beer Billy
Sorted!
M.
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