by Ted Glaser © 2002
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Prologue: Travel Plans
After last year's trip I decided to tap into my Delta Airlines Frequent Flyer account. It seemed like a logical idea as I had over 80,000 miles, enough for a free Business Class ticket. Last year's free upgrade was very nice. I intended to make my reservations at the end of October. With the ensuing confusion after 11 September and continuing `family pressure' I delayed until January of this year. Thereby hangs the tale.
I live near Melbourne and have a choice of the Melbourne Airport (MLB) or driving to Orlando (1½ hrs) or Miami (3 hrs). The people who man the telephones at Delta are really nice to deal with. Unfortunately, my fellow Frequent Flyers have similar scheduling desires and snapped up all the Business Class seats. In fact, they snapped up almost all the seats to Paris and back to the US for at least three days surrounding my desired travel dates. However, If I wished to spend about $800 . . . .
The only over water free (coach) seat available for my desired dates was from Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York City leaving at 17h55 on SAT 08 JUN. The return on MON 17 JUN is by way of Cincinatti (CVG). What could I do? I took them. Then came the matter of connections from Melbourne. The only free seats to New York City were to LaGuardia Airport (LGA), about 20 miles away from JFK . I declined the first flights offered as there were only 2½ hours between arrival at LGA and JFK departure. Not a realistic connecting time even without changing airports. As an "Immigrant" from NYC I was quite familiar with Long Island traffic and inter-airport transportation problems. The next earliest flight out MLB was at 08h30. The connection from Atlanta (ATL) arrives LGA at 13h30. It allowed just about enough time to pick up baggage, miss the first inter-airport bus and arrive at JFK in time to check in. Over 24 hours would elapse from the time I left my house to the arrival in LeMans. As the English might say, "That puts paid to any hope of carrying perishable food from the US".
The return journey is just as "interesting". Not wanting to get up at 05h00 in LeMans (23h00 in the US) and make a mad dash, I have a Sunday night reservation at a hotel about 3km (2mi) from the airport. Departure is a `reasonable' 10h40. Arrival at CVG is scheduled for 13h00, arrival at ATL at 16h30, departure to MLB at 20h20 and arriving at 21h45. That's right, almost four hours in Atlanta. All free tickets come with capacity restrictions. I am on standby for an earlier flight that could shorten the `day' to `only 14hrs'.
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Saturday 08 JUN: On the `road'
Out of the house at 07h00, to ATL, to LGA and JFK. On Delta 16 ready for the 17h55 departure from New York's JFK without a hiccup. The same could not be said for the chorus of unhappy children who took turns voicing their displeasure from the boarding lounge all the way to Customs in Paris. One suitcase weighed in at 72.5 pounds (32.95kg, limit is 30kg). I was informed that if it came back that heavy it would cost me money.
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Sunday, 09 JUN: The "Bliveteers" arrive
Weather: Cloudy, 21º C (73º F)
There are now four in our merry band. Nancy Digh-Carbini has convinced her friend Kay Fairer (CCR) to make the trip. In addition, Bob Gabri (Chief of F&C WNYR) managed a few extra days so he is due in today, not Tuesday. I arrived from NYC at 07h30 (01h30 in New York), Nancy & Kay from ATL at 08h15 in the same terminal at Charles DeGaulle Airport.
After the same mess at Customs as in '00 and baggage claim it was time to empty out the ATM for our first look at the new Eurodollar with a symbol that looks like the letter "e" with an added horizontal line (€). The exchange rate has declined slightly over the past two months from 1€15/$ to 1€05/$. It is much easier to divide by 0.95 than 7.67 (ff/$).
Bob arrived from Toronto at the same time, next terminal down the line where he was met by Geraldine Frechou, a flagger we met in '99. We all convened at the Hertz counter.
Wheels for this trip were supposed to be a Renault "Scenic" minivan, listed for seven passengers (with no luggage, hopefully four, with). The Hertz attendant didn't think we could get all the suitcases into the Scenic and substituted an Opel Zanfria (Diesel, hereinafter referred to as the "Blivet" and we are the "Bilviteers"). He was right and we almost didn't get it stuffed into the Opel. Perhaps one more carefully folded Cashmere sweater.
On the road to Le Mans we found still another route (four trips, all different routes) but we DID NOT GET LOST or waste time. The toll had gone up from ff 88 (~$14.43) in 1999 to ff 90 in 2000 to ff 94 ($12.25) in 2001 to 14€80 ($14.06) this year. Scattered showers en route, sun in and out. Arrived at Bernard's house to the usual welcome and dinner with adult beverages. Bernard had thoughtfully prepared several trays of des gla
ons (ice cubes). Gifts were exchanged. Kaye brought Macadamia nuts which were new to our French friends and microwave popcorn which was a hit from last year. Alexandre approved. 25º C (75º F) at 22h00.
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Monday, 10 JUN: Shopping, Nancy's rental car and Registration
Weather: Cloudy, 20º C (71º F)
The "Bilviteers" went to the "Carrefour" store for personal, household and race supplies. Managed to stuff the Blivet pretty well and took off to la garre (train station) where Nancy picked up her rental car. From there to Quinconces des Jacobins where we deposited Nancy's car at 12h00. It was too early for registration but the parking spaces were getting scarce. All back in the Blivet for the trip to Bernards where we had lunch. It was an easy (downhill) walk back to register at 15h00 and watch `verification' (tech inspection). Bob made a side trip into a store that sold model cars. Sun still playing peek-a-boo, fine drizzle but not enough to wet the streets/sidewalks. When we had enough, over to Nancy's car and a quick ride to Bernard's. Another 21h00 dinner supported by adult beverages and it was bedtime. Seemed strange, not having to worry about lost luggage or if/when Bob would arrive.
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Tuesday, 11 JUN: Reconnaisance
Weather: Cloudy, 24º C (74º F), rain overnight
The "Bilviteers" loaded up for my tour of the public roads that were part of the course. Kaye was impressed. We stopped at the ACO Shop on the outside of the track, under the tribunes (grandstands). Official ACO logo merchandise is featured. Several people had asked me to bring back souvenier pins but there were none this year. Merchandise prices are up from last year even considering that the ff/€ rate was fixed in January at 6.55.
The preferred tires in the tire walls this year were NEW Firestone 720 Firehawks, several thousand of them.
More scattered showers.
Another ride to Bernard's and 21h00 dinner supported by adult beverages and it was bedtime.
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Wednesday, 12 JUN: And so it begins
Weather: Partly sunny, 25º C (75º F)
Started the day at Alexandre's school. Spoke to his class and also a class of 10 year olds. I brought and asked Kaye to bring the prior Sunday's newspaper with all the ads and inserts. I started by handing out the ads and inserts. Then I went to the blackboard and explained pounds, ounces, pints, quarts and their conversion factors to Metric units as well as two-for-one and buy-one-get-one-free. The most popular inserts were Kmart/Wal-Mart for clothes, Publix/Winn-Dixie for groceries and Best Buy/Circuit City for `toys'. All were surprised about the sale prices on two liter soda. 69¢ plus 6% tax was 73¢ or 0€77. In France a 1½ liter was 1€44. I told them that the store was probably loosing money at 69¢ and the sales were only good for a few days. Grocery cupons were similar to those in France. The 6% additional sales tax was incomprehensible. All products and services in France are taxed at 19.6% but it is included in the posted prices.
Scattered showers and 27º C (77º F). Back to Bernard's for lunch and off to the track. Made a quick tour of the course with Bob in order to renew friendships at Poste 75, 83 & 100. The roads were closed for final race prep at 13h00 but I entered at Mulsanne corner (Poste 76) and convinced the Gendarme that we were only going back to Poste 75. We then re-entered the course in race direction to visit 83 & 100. Since we were unmolested by the Gendarmes, we continued in race direction thru the Porsche curves and in to our station, Poste 128, same as last year. We had the same cast of characters and they were all glad to see us again. This year they had rented a `professional' 20' x 40' tent as last year's canopy/tent combination was pretty sad when the rains came.
At 18h00 to 18h30 the Formula France Euroséri cars had an untimed practice session. These are cute little things in coupé and roadster configuration. They are spec cars slightly smaller than our SRFs. They are very rounded and stubby looking. Weight is 450kg (990 pounds) and they are powered by a claimed 200hp 1.3 liter Suzuki motorcycle engine. I did not record any lap times but they seemed to bunch up in groups the same as our SRFs. Bob and I were off for the 19h00 to 21h00 practice session and so we went into `the village' to make the tour of the concessions. Bob was trapped by the model cars at the Audi pavillion and had to make a purchase in order to escape. We returned to the Poste at 21h00 to eat and get ready for our session that lasted from 22h00 to 24h00 (midnight).
We tried a new way back to Bernard's and got lost. Not entirely as I eventually recognized an intersection where I had been lost in '99. Made it home and into bed after securing another load of ice cubes in Bernard's freezer. 12º C (52º F)
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Thursday, 13 JUN: More of the same
Weather: Very Cloudy, 20º C (71º F), rain overnight
After breakfast, it was off to the "Carrefour" store for some last minute supplies and home for lunch. Once again the roads closed at 13h00 but we made our way thru the infield to the Poste for the 16h00 official workers meeting (in French). They were quite insistent that "tôus les drapeau son agité" (all flags are waved). Gifts were exchanged and Bob's 3½ pound can of peanuts and my 1¾ liter bottle of Jim Beam were produced with ice cubes to be applied with dinner. Bob and I were incorrectly informed that we had the late shift and so it was back to the village where the Grand Marnier crépe stand was in operation. The crépe prices have risen again. In '99 they were ff 12 ($1.95), in '00 they were ff 12½ ($1.81), in '01 they were ff 17 ($2.21) and this year they were 2€50 ($2.37). Something new was available. A Cherry Marnier crépe. Instead of sugar and Grand Marnier (40º alcoholic Orange) topping, Cherry preserves and Cherry Marnier (40º alcoholic Cherry) were applied for 2€90 ($2.76). I had one of each (Vivé le differencé!).
28º C (80º F). Back to the Poste in time to work the last half of our schedule, have dinner and work the late shift. At midnight we waited for the track to clear and took off for home thru the Ford Chicaine, past the start finish line, under the Dunlop Bridge, around the new curves, exited at Tertre Rouge and up the N 138 to Bernard's. 15º C (60º F)
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Friday, 14 JUN: The Tourists arrive
Weather: Sunny, 25º C (75º F)
I spent the morning packing as I had acquired enough candy, wine and coffee to take up the same space as was filled with gifts on the way over. Bob and I would sleep at the track on Saturday and leave for Paris immediately after the race. The tourists were Mike Blommel and his wife from Pompano Beach FL. They are Florida Region SCCA members, friends of Frank Stoddard and just happened to be in Paris on vacation. I agreed to help them out. Bernard had space, why not? On Saturday, he also escorted them around the track and paddock using extra passes we had accumulated.
Very cloudy and 28º C (80º F). Bob, Nancy and Kaye took off to watch the race car drivers being driven around downtown in older cars. Geraldine would meet them there and come back to Bernard's for the M.D.C.V. (Merci Dieux, C'est Vendredi - Thank God It's Friday) party. Scattered showers started and the tables were moved into Bernard's garage. Then they stopped and the tables went out into the yard again. Everyone had their fingers crossed that the rain would hold. It did.
I had been checking the weather on the internet using Bernard's `coal fired' 166mhz computer with W/98, 40mb of RAM, a 14.4 modem and a French keyboard. Lots of fun as q, a, m, b, "?", "." and "," are all in a different place. The number keys and the "." require shift. In addition, there are two different `alt' keys to accommodate the accented letters located on the number keys at the top of the keyboard. The number keys have three possible call outs. Default (lower case, left side), Shift (upper case, numbers) and r/h alt key(lower case, right side). Anyone who can touch-type on a French keyboard deserves a medal.
The party started and I provided Stingers for an aperitif. It was hard to translate Stinger until I related honeycombs, bees and the end that bites. They were extremely well received as they could be made from inexpensive local ingredients. I used six parts cheap cognác to one part Créme du Menthé Blanche (white cream of mint). At home I use three or four to one but the mint was very strong and the cognác pretty weak. Nancy brought the ham this year as I had a loooong travel time (23+hrs) and I wasn't sure how effective the insulation in my cooler would be. (28º C, 80º F)
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Saturday, 15 JUN: The race is on
Weather: Cloudy, 25º C (75º F)
Bob and I stuffed the Blivet with suitcases (easy when there are only two people) and made for the track. Coffee and rolls were ready and assignments were handed out. This year, Bob and I had 09h00 to 09h45 (warmups), 18h00 to 20h00, 01h00 to 04h00, 09h00 to 11h00, and 14h00 to 15h00. Lunch at noon both days and dinner at 20h00 when our shift ended.
The morning warmups came and went and it was time for the `tours'. This year there were Corvettes, vintage Bentleys and Morgans (vintage by definition). Then came the Formula France Euroséri race. With no assignment until 18h00 Bob and I had lunch and headed up track with Geraldine to the start/finish line so that we could see the real "Can Can" dancers from the real "Moulin Rouge". They started early and we were forced to watch the 'Hawaiian Tropic" girls instead. There were at least six TV helicopters circulating at all times. We came back to watch the start and soon it was our turn to work. (28º C, 80º F)
Bob and I were pleasantly surprised when we were each presented a case of six bottles of wine in appreciation of our contributions. Where to put it was the question. I managed to redo my stuff and tie enough rope around the wooden crate to use it as a carry-on. Bob was full up. He had even purchased another small suitcase for a carry-on. He left his wine with Geraldine and will pick it up next year.
Every silver VW van and station wagon in Western France appeared to have been commandeered by Audi for shuttle service between their hospitality compound near P-128 and their similar location in `the village'.
The work shifts went without incident. After dinner Bob jumped into his tent and I put two suitcases on top of the "Blivet" and went to sleep in the back. (30º C, 85ºF at 22h00).
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Sunday, 16 JUN: The beat goes on
Weather: Clear, 30º C, 85ºF at 01h00
Not much action on track. As part of the flag station included a rotation in front of the Audi pavilion I was walking my beat when a voice called out in German accented English "Would you like a drink?". It was one of the `suits' at the Audi pavilion, offering bottles of a Sports Drink. I took them and distributed them and was called back to inquire if I wanted beer, as well. But of course. It was "Jever Pilsener" (4.9% alcohol) from Jever, Germany and is now sitting in my refrigerator awaiting the appropriate moment. There was a three lane 1/32 scale slot car track measuring about 12 x 18 feet on the porch of the pavilion. Invitees were busy running model Audi R-8s off the track on a continuous basis. There were some lovely ladies in attendance whose job it was to re-rail the cars. The alleged drivers only knew on and off. If it had been me I would have lapped the lot about 100 times.
After a few more hours in the back of the "Blivet" it was time to work again. The race had progressed as anticipated with the Audi steamroller on schedule. Cars continued to creep by with flat tires, probably caused by the new pavement after the Dunlop bridge. Bernard returned to the track at noon and retrieved up Bob's tent for next year.
Too soon (it seemed) the last lap was upon us. I took my American flag to the edge of the track and was waving it for the TV cameras and the drivers. I had on a Stars & Stripes baseball hat. Bob was also waving his American flag, wearing his Aussie cowboy hat. We left the track expecting a monster traffic jam which never materialized. We headed North towards town and onto the N 23. There was one slowdown before the A 11 as the four lane road became a two lane road but then it was `hammer down' all the way to the A 6 with the air conditioner running (30º C, 85ºF). One more tie-up at the tollbooth where the A 11 joined the A 10. There were 27 lanes open including three that were the equivalent of Orlando's "Sunpass". Less than two hours from the paddock to the A6. We found the `new' road and Charles DeGaulle Airport without incident. The hotel was another story. You didn't think the trip would be that easy, did you?
The hotel directions indicated that it was very close to the airport. We stopped to fill up with Gazoil (diesel) and Bob checked the large information map at the gas station. The indicated street address did not seem appropriate for a hotel at the `bottom end' of the price range. It wasn't. Several trips around a loop that was familiar from my '99 trip when I picked up Bob convinced us that this wasn't right. This time however, I had plenty of fuel on board. A bad set of directions from a competitor's hotel clerk and a phone call ($1.89 on a US credit card) set us on the right route. It took a lot of faith to follow the directions as the signage stank.
Dinner in the non air conditioned hotel dining room was a hot buffet that featured Poulett á la ??? (Chicken Breast in a cream sauce) and Lapine á la ??? (Rabbit Stew). The desert table featured puddings and tarts and a closed transparent box of cheeses. I opened it for a sample and closed it immediately as it was unrefrigerated and some of the cheeses were "mature" to say the least. Others just plain STANK. A couple at the next table was accompanied by a small dog. It was better behaved than many small children but not what I expected to see in a restaurant.
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Monday, 17 JUN: The long road home
I dropped Bob off at Air Canada and turned in the "Blivet". There were no luggage carts available at the check-in. I struggled thru the parking lot with two heavy wheeled suitcases, a backpack and the case of wine until I came upon someone who was leaving and pounced on their wagon. That simplified the trip upstairs to the Delta/Air France ticket counter which had not yet opened. At the first security checkpoint before the ticket counter I was asked if I had and firearms or explosives in my luggage. It took a lot of restraint on my part not to tell the nice lady that if I was the type of person who did in fact have firearms or explosives in my luggage, I would have no problem lying about it.
Off on schedule and into Cincinatti without incident or crying children (Nancy and Kaye had them on their flight to Atlanta, a few days later). I was lucky in that the wait list had cleared and I had a short connection in Atlanta and on to Melbourne.
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Epilogue: Comments and Thoughts
The French do not want to let go of the franc (ff) for the Euro (€). Most people still think of prices in ff and they are quoted that way at cash registers, hotels, etc in spite of the fact that the register tapes show € in large print. There were many calculators in evidence that had dual displays. Prices were entered and a button pushed which automatically converted to the other currency in the second display. Bernard complained that his salary was a direct conversion while most prices were said to have increased five to ten percent due to `rounding up'. I am sure that items now priced at 73€ and 84€ will soon migrate to 74€99 and 89€99.
Kaye and Nancy had wanted to change a total of $900 into Euros. Bernard went to four banks before anyone would do it. He was at his own bank and had to deposit the money in his account. They put a hold on it for three days as if it was an out of town check. With the commission the girls got 900€ (one for one) instead of 945€.
This year there were two extra pit garages and an entry for Michel Vaillante who is perhaps France's most famous racing driver. For many years he has competed in most forms of motorsport usually against the Leader team and has won the 24hrs of Le Mans five times. For those confused readers reaching for the record books, relax as his exploits have been comic strip adventures. He has been 30 years old for the last 40 years. In 1997 one of the Courage entries carried the Vaillante name and this year will see the return of the movie industry for a Luc Besson film. Shades of Steve McQueen's "LeMans". The driver names on the cars are the characters in the movie and do not reflect those actually driving the DAMS run blue Lola #13 (Vaillante, misidentified on TV as #10 also blue) and red Panoz LMP #22 (Leader). There are normally only 48 cars allowed to start. The two movie cars were added and the garages built after the ACO made one of their `famous deals'. US distribution of the movie is doubtful as the characters are unknown here.
Another interesting car was the Aero-Morgan. It was supposedly completely redesigned in the three plus years since it appeared at the Sebring FIA GT race. As Le Mans is an invitational race, you may wonder how it was accepted. Quite simply, the ACO had forgotten to put an expiration date on the Morgan's 1962 race invitation. They had to accept it and let it run. The car has DeWalt Power Tool sponsorship and as an added attraction at the DeWalt display in `the village' one of Roush Racing's NASCAR Fords was on display. It attracted quite a crowd as most of the people had only seen that type of car on TV. It was strange looking in more ways than one. The front end had positive camber, lots of it. There was obviously no motor in the car.
Red Bull energy drink is forbidden in France.
Bob and I met and spoke at various times with Marty Kauffman, Dick Martin, Pete Brock, Derrick Bell and photographer John Brooks.
How the money went: We paid about 0.955 dollars/Euro or $1.045 Euros/$. Should have had the race the first week in April and saved 10%. The credit card company added an immediate 1% to each € transaction, then totaled all the € transactions during the billing period and added another 2%. Prices mentioned in the article include all sucharges.
Thursday, June 6, 2002
