Part 3: Le 24 Heures du Mans

Next stop, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  We left Epen, regretfully, via bus and two trains.  Arriving in Paris for a quick overnight near the Gare du Nord, we stayed at the very new and modern Hotel Hor.  The weather looked a little threatening, so we dashed to the nearby Carrefour to grab some supplies...and got back to the hotel minutes before a horrendous thunderstorm.  Lucky!

The next morning we commuted via the Paris RER from Gare du Nord to De Gaulle Airport during morning rush hour.  This is an experience we'd rather not repeat.  Between packed trains, hurried commuters, and folks jumping the turnstyles to avoid paying the fare, it's not a fun place for geezers with luggage.  By afternoon, we were in tranquil Tours and checked into our hotel for a four-night stay. 

This time, Grand Prix Tours added a pit walk, garage tour, and a trip to Le Mans town for the driver's parade on Friday.  Here's the pits:

 

And we got the grand tour of the Visitflorida.com entry:

 

 

They didn't finish the full 24 hours...the car conked out sometime overnight while we were back at the hotel.  On Saturday, we took our usual stroll all over the fan area, and found the Nissan Delta Wing (which we thought was going to compete, but apparently it was just for show this year):

 

 

We've posted a lot of stuff on here from previous years, so here are a few different views.  First, the flag and anthem ceremony.  They present the flag and play the anthem of each participating driver's country:

 

Here's the start:

 

 

The pits at dusk:

 

 

The winners!  Audi again, but Toyota game them a run for their money:

 

 

And the fans mob the main straight for the podium ceremony:

 

 

The event was saddened this year by the death of driver Allan Simonsen early in the race.  This marked the first driver death during the race since 1986.  The show went on, of course, but a somber speech from Jacky Ickx reminded us all that this sport is, inherently, dangerous.

Next stop, Part 4, Le Mont St. Michel and the Normandy Landing Beaches.