Club Arnage

Hi,

so after many happy(!) years at Houx Annex (well since before it was called that) we have now been evicted by the ACO - so this year I have tickets for Maison Blanche, so what's it like down there? They'll be eight of us, 1 camper, 1 normal car and a couple of beach buggy's arriving sometime friday to erect a horde or tents - what are our chances of getting a decent pitch? and what is it like generally as a campsite, how infested is it with thieving pikey scum? - sorry I mean cultured, intelligent, locals...?

cheers! AB.

Hi AB,
My attorney in these matters, Andrew Zarse, of Pimply Zarse Rosybum & Blackhead, has advised me on this matter, nevertheless:
Like you we used to go to Houx before it was Houx, but made the transition to MB a few (about 10) years ago. If you're arriving on Friday on anything larger than a 4 by 2 piece of Axminster, you'll have no chance of getting a pitch. Thursday  you could probably squeeze in, although to be honest a lot of people arrive on Wednesday.
There's a showerblock with about half a dozen stalls and 3 or 4 sit down shitters, and a portacabin with a few squatters. Personally I've never really got the hang of those squatters, the angle of repose seems crucial, I approached one a little too aggressively in '99 and spent the rest of the weekend trying to re-insert my colon. There are a few standpipes and elecrical sockets around but these usually get surrounded pretty early.
I've never had or heard of any trouble with pikeys at MB, but it doesn't hurt to stay alert. You don't want to wake up in Singapore with a beard and one kidney after a night out studying the racing form.
I think it's one of the best sites and it's usually the first to sell out, you're near the track and have about a 15min stroll to pits straight grandstand, passing the tempory paddock set up for the support races on the way, and everyone generally has a 'buouyant' disposition...
H

Another plus for MB is that it has the kart track snaking around inside it so if it's wet it's not all mud.

As it's inside the general enclosure area pikeys have not been a problem to my knowledge.

We missed out and are in Bleu this year just across the drag strip/road.

Dave

What can I add? Nothing really, as I've never stayed on MB before. We were on Houx Annexe last year too so MB'll be a learning curve for me as well.

All I have heard about MB is that there's always music in the air, it's usually the Village People with their hits "In the MB" and "YMBA".  The great smell of Brut 33 hangs heavy in the Jonathan King Memorial Toilet block. Quite a few German bikers on Harleys stay there too. So take your tight cut off jeans and leather doillies and find your inner self.

Oh, and don't drop the soap in the shower.

Andy Z

PS On friday afternoon, H and his performing Jaguar will entertain us outside the Sports Bar.

NNNNnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys that helps a lot...I think.

What is the crack with sunday night down there? Houx Annex was pretty good, once all the part timers had started the race to the boat...do you get the obligatory "lets ignore the firework code" sessions?

AB

Firework code is generally ignored yes - and not just restricted to Sunday! Remember a few years back over by the circuit side there was quite a battle between 2 warring factions and several were launched as if they were Exocets! Glad we were way over toward the back wall.

Sunday night though is a damn fine party indeed although in 2001 (the wet one) I returned to the site about 2 hours after the finish and it was like first thing Monday morning - everyone had gone home early to dry out or if they were like Lord Steve, they had run out of dry clothes.

Gentlemen, start your burning of sausages!

Like Alfa Dave we've been turfed out of our usual lodgings - Karting Nord,  and this year find ourselves on Blue.

Presumably the best way to it is past the main entrance/museum.  How far past the entrance to MB is ther entrance to Blue ?

Jem

About 40 yards as I recall.  

Ahhh yes, the Sunday night fireworks (well, that and the bangers, Vulcan air bombs and anything else I may happen to bring along....). I will be popping along to my friends who run Fireworks International in the next few days to fill a very large box with many such weaponry^H^H^Hfireworks and a nice display will be had on Sunday night - towards the back of Maison Blanche, near the entry to the overflow car park.

Just beware of the odd exceedingly loud explosion from the nutters manning "Le w**k*rs Arms" who, some years back, were in the habit of filling bin liners with propane, tying it to one of helium, attaching an electric flex to it, allowing it to float into the air and then connecting the wires to a car battery....

Jesus it was loud.

LOL!! So that was what those noises were. I was having this scrummy dream about ponies and I was awakened by this terrific banging from Lord Melchett etc.....

Always admire the pyrotechnics and given my advancing years and many years of experiencing the aformentioned, have managed to perfect the art of sleeping through the 3am ones now. Something to do with the whisky I think though!

Sounds like an overdose of "Rhum" to me  ;D

 8)

Ah! MB! Been to many times to remeber, although the comforts of Houx have sometimes drawn us over there. Definitlet need to arrive early to find a decent place to pitch. Arrived early Monday morning before the race three years ago to find the Kraut's had beaten us to our usual place.

Fireworks on Sunday night extreme, again on last visit there was a competition going on with the guys in KN to see who could out do each other. All very well until some dumb f***ker set light to some tyres and choked everybody.

Some years back we had some interesting mid-night racing  round the kart circuit. It stopped rather suddenly when one idiot rammed a 45 gallon oil drum waste bin full of (empty) beer bottles. What ever happened to the Dolly Boys?

As for the pikeys, the only appearance we really get on MB by any such like is on Monday mid-morning which is a sight to behold when whole families turn up in their tatty Renault whatevers complete with weekend trailer and start loading up with our discards and leftovers.

Broken chairs, gazebos, bbqs etc. Anything is fair game to them and rather amusing to just sit back and watch.

You can play "will they' won't they" as you tantalisingly leave something about 25metres away and you can see if they go for it and then at the last minute step in and reclaim .. it's great!!!!!

The post 2001 "wet weekend" (remember seeing a short Scandinavian film by that name a good few years back!!) saw them almost like the proverbial headless chickens, there was so much discarded "ruins" they didn't know where to start.

We laid out some interesting leftovers in a Southern Comfort bottle one year and were merrily chortling away to our selves when they sent their young daughter (too young for any of the likes of us!!) over to get it and all of a sudden our conscience (nearly) got the better of us!!

 ;D

Speaking of fireworks, the last time we camped in Houx Annex, which was probably in 1997. We were on the campsite on Friday evening, when all of a sudden there was a huge bang, much louder than anything else that evening. We were extremely impressed. Then about 5 minutes later an ambulance arrived  on the campsite. Presumably looking for whoever had set off the firework/explosion.

Hmmmm. Fireworks....

Well, having paid a visit to my friends who import them from China, my shed is now a bomb waiting to happen, being fully laden with all manner of explosives. Please God don't let a spark come near my car on the way down.

This part of post removed. Please be aware that this site won't tolerate racial bias. Da Mod.

He also gave me a box of several hundred small rockets - just the sort of thing for horizontal launching.

I must confess, the temptation to booby-trap something for the thieving pikey's^H^H^Hcultured local folk is tempting.

 ;D

Sorry to do the captain sensible bit - I love the vertical firework battles as much as the next guy (even at 3am) but can you advise us all exactly where you are going to be loacted?   That way we can make sure we are miles away when you decide to launch rockets horizontally.  The prospect of horizontal fireworks in the midst of pi**ed/sleeping crowds cocooned in nylon tents and nylon sleeping bags, surrounded by cars and fuel is not an entertaining one.   Not being a killjoy - just have had first-hand experience of dealing with the results of such accidents and 1) Nylon burns bloody quickly, melts and sticks to skin 2) Individual in tent in sleeping bag will not survive  3) The results are not pretty.   Nuff said.

And I'd assumed he MUST have been joking about that...it's worrying that it might have been a serious comment!

Errrr yes.

Did people really take that seriously ?

Jeesh....

Neil - glad it wasn't serious - I enjoy Le Mans and all that goes with it as much as the next bloke, but that just touched a nerve, as you might have gathered from my post.    All the best,

Mark