I miss those days ....

The weather was absolutely rude this year (and has continued to be for us in France ever since!) - there wasn't a single 'reliable' day (where one could know the weather would be fixed; either sunny all day or raining all day) and of course, the rain made BSJ (our 'not by choice' new home) a swamp.

This year could be the one that sees me putting the marquees up in the garden and spending the week 3 hours south of La Sarthe in 2025 .....

But not as big as last year's ones!

T23 (Motul) and T5 (Goodyear/Dunlop) are my preference.

Yes the ACO stand has a bar and toilets (and if you ever go to the MotoGP there, is a VERY welcome refuge), but the view is just of the pit straight unless you watch it on the TVs/big screens and I can do that with lots of much cheaper beer in the campsite.

There was a Jeep with a roof tent near us.  It didn't look comfortable or safe.  Nearby, another 4x4 was reversed into an Eazy-up, which looked far more civilised.  I'll stick to the caravan thank you

A bit like tents on roofs of cars.get up for a piss in the middle of the night still wankered and break your neck as you plummet to your doom.

As the ACO are reducing camping ticket allocations each year, why not all chip in and do this from now on 

Now that they put a barrier up in front of the steps, its quite quick to get into the grandstands.  I went in about an hour before, and the tunnel and road behind the grandstands were about as clear as you'll get.  Better than pre covid.

The other surprise was Dunlop and Ford during practice.  It looked heaving but you could find half a dozen seats.

Thankfully the ACO have largely had this under control for the last 2 years.  But in 2022 it was a nightmare.  I was in the front row and couldn't see anything at the start or the finish. 

This was my 37th Le Mans.  Every year since 1986 except 2020 and 2021.  I'm one of those who doesn't camp - in fact, I've never camped and I suppose that being the case I don't miss it and certainly don't want to do it at 67 years of age and in the weather we experienced at LM this year.  I had a great time, primarily because for quite a while it didn't look as though I would make it.  I've had some serious health issues over the last two and a half months and if dates for meetings and procedures had fallen differently, I simply wouldn't have got there.  In the end I had to adjust my plans, travel over with my son and his partner.  It was a shorter trip but nonetheless an enjoyable one.  It also made me realise just how crucial it was (for me) to have seats in the right grandstand (T17) with the available facilities.  Will I be there in 2025? - health permitting, you betcha!  

PS  Werner, Arnage camping was cropping up on the ACO resale site fairly regularly even in the few weeks before the event.  I bought Mulsanne camping for a friend when I bought my own tickets way back last year.