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Having a very good nights sleep (we managed to sleep in until 8.45am), tea, coffee, showers and pack up Bertha and we were on the road by 9.45am, not bad for us. Woolly however wasn’t so pleased with our lie in as he wanted to get going so he could try his skateboard out on the Le Mans track.
Woolly says – Jo and Ian are so lazy! I was ready and waiting at half seven and not a movement from either of them, but finally we set off. One hundred and forty kilometres and we arrived in the centre of Le Mans, but I couldn’t see a race track anywhere. We did see a beautiful Cathedral and finding our way inside we craned our necks to look at the beautiful stained glass that graced every window, pretty stunning as was the beautifully ornate wooden carved organ – it could do with a dust though! I found a drain cover, not any old drain cover like the boring ones in Britain but a lovely decorated one, I wonder if my bestest friend Sion has found any drain covers on his travels? We wandered the medieval streets of the
city finding ourselves at the Roman Walls at the bottom of some steep steps, it was curious to see that houses had been built into the walls and remaining turrets. Helping Jo back up the steps we decided on a coffee next to the cathedral, so nice to sit in the sun and relax for a few minutes but Jo and Ian insisted on taking their time, time waits for no Mammoths when they need to find a race track!
With Woolly becoming a pain we found our way back to Oliver (no chance of getting Georgie onto the parking) and dodged round the roadwork’s to leave the city behind us.
Woolly says – Then I saw it!!!!! The 24hour Le Mans Circuit, it was MASSIVE!!! Ian told me that it was 13.6 KM long, it could take me a while on my skateboard to go all the way round! Cars have been participating in the marathon race since the early 1900’s, the actual Bugatti Circuit is only 4.184 KM long but they use public roads for the race to make up the extra distance. We paid our 3.50 Euro each (approximately £2.90 GBP)
and then we hit a problem, apparently there was a Lotus race on so I wouldn’t be able to take my skateboard on. Crossing through the barrier and under the course we found ourselves by the stands, it was very exciting to see the cars flying past us with their noisy engines. We walked further along and were able to see the pits with everyone running around getting cars ready for the track, we had an excellent vantage point which would cost an average of 110 Euro on a proper race day. I had spotted a huge Dunlop sign and knowing that Dunlop used to be based in Birmingham I asked if we could go over for a photo opportunity. Because of my earlier disappoint Jo let me skateboard across which was fun but not as good as being on the track itself. With pictures taken we made our way back to the entrance.
Having dragged Woolly away from the race track and forcefully removed his skateboard we went into the site museum. For 8.50 Euro (approximately £7.10) we found a lovely little museum with lots of interesting information.
Woolly says – We looked
at the legends who have been associated with the track including Ferdinand Porsche, Entto Bugatti, Steve McQueen, Jacky Ickx and many more, then we found the first cars of 1923 to take the challenge of 24 hour driving, they only did 9 circuits compared to today’s cars that average well over 200. There was a really good section on the ‘behind the scenes’ people who clear the track, fire staff and everyone else who isn’t seen but who’s presence it much needed. Then we got to the more modern cars, there were some very nice ones and I even found a Woolly sized one! Throughout the museum there was video footage being shown of the earliest days, the crashes and the wins, all in all a very good place to go.
With tired legs and paws we found our way to the campsite for the night, Camping de L’hippodrome (at Sable-sur-sarthe), our cheapest so far at 8.68 Euro (approximately £7.20 GBP) for the night and the same for Motorhomes plus 2.52 euro for hook up it’s a steal. It’s a very quiet site with all the facilities you could want, we might even get a lie in
in the morning!
Woolly says – it’s been an AWESOME day, and although I’m a very tired Mammoth it was worth it.
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