New Village.

[smokie]

I can't see why the aco would want to ban fireworks, if they tried it would be pretty hard to police in any case.

Those Floridians ask you on entry to the circuit whether you are carrying fireworks or firearms. That certainly doesn't work!

[Kpy]

While I would have prefered the old village was maintained as it should have been instead of having fallen into decay, I quite liked the new one.
What is certain, had the aco not pulled down the old one, it would have fallen down fairly soon.

Wide open plaza with TV screens, some trees giving shade, bars where not charging the earth (poo bar excluded) and the loos where good.

hopefully when its complete it will be even better and I hope the aco can maintain it.

lemans25 - a couple of points, do the aco own the houx annexe site? I don't think they do, so have little control over its future, the swimming pool ban was not the aco's doing, there is a water shortage in that part of france.
I can't see why the aco would want to ban fireworks, if they tried it would be pretty hard to police in any case.

btw after 27 years without a break, I have every intent of returning next year.

Good post Nordic. I agree with every point. No, the ACO does not own Houx Annexe.
lemans25 - The ACO firework display was to celebrate their centenary. Given the amount of fireworks we let off in France on 14th July, I really can't see why the Préfect should even dream of banning them on the campsites.

[Christopher]

Considering it was not finished, I thought the village was ok really.

Not the same as the old one, granted, but was easier to walk around without getting caught up in crowds concentrating around certain bars or food outlets.

Not sure why it was not finished though, did not look too complicated a task.

Certainly appears to be more commercial / corporate based, so not sure how that will work out. Nice for the casual visitor, but not of much interest to the regular race goer I suspect.

Will be interesting to see what it finally looks like finished and if the ACO see it as an ongoing evolving area of the circuit, or will they just leave it for another decade(s) until it starts to fall down again.

[Dave H]

I also found the new set-up a significant improvement over the rubble years gone by.  I also call bollox on atmosphere.  Surely everyone's so p i ssed they don't care what's around them.  Next you lot will be saying you're interested in the race!

More bars, more different bars, more (and SIGNFICANTLY better) bogs, restaurant terraces you can sit in and view the track from, much wider thoroughfares and a ground surface that's shaping up to be far more R2D2 (rolling coolers) friendly.

I must say, I thought the Champers bar was comical.  Location allowed zero potential for shade - and I have nothing but abject pity for any poor souls purchasing their product.  We bring our own kit which was excellent this year.  I tasted someone's purchased champers and nearly vomited.  Sweet, marginally cold and 50 Euros!  Comical.  In years gone by they actually sold reasonably OK stuff.

Corporate, F1-style, sell-out, sterile...  whatever you want to call it, unless you like shuffling around in decades of dirt, how could you not want this place to clean its act up.

[termietermite]

Considering it was not finished, I thought the village was ok really.
Not sure why it was not finished though, did not look too complicated a task.

Will be interesting to see what it finally looks like finished and if the ACO see it as an ongoing evolving area of the circuit, or will they just leave it for another decade(s) until it starts to fall down again.

If you look at my previous posts, you will know that ACO-bashing is my bete noir!  I have visited the circuit half a dozen times or more during the last year and can tell you that a huge amount of work has been going on all year.  Don't forget that it was not just the village that was being re-done.  They are re-modelling bits of circuit (which has upset a few people I know as well it might, but there it goes), are having a tramway built alongside/through/under other parts of the non ACO bit; are building 5 new pits and have built a new tunnel (which pedestrians can now walk through in safety and avoid p***heads on bikes etc).  The eta for the new village was always 2007 and I guess they knew that they could put up temporary stuff there whereas if they had been late with the trackworks, the race could not have gone ahead.  This year the Classic is being held in July, not September, so they can start again.
Another sport I love, horse racing, had a similar disruption to two of its major courses in the last couple of years - Ascot and Kempton - and what did they do?  Closed the things down altogether and moved the events to other, sometimes controversial, venues.  Wembley anybody?
Please reserve judgement on this. Ta.

[Fran]

will they just leave it for another decade(s) until it starts to fall down again.

Even a fairly brief drive through France will demonstrate the French style of property maintenance!! Not that I am knocking it, I rather like the faded crumbling grace of many of their old buildings - far preferable to the decking and laminating of Britain that the likes of Titchmarsh and Lawrence Llew-Bow are spreading.......it even makes me think I might be able to afford a little chateau of my own, one of these days!   

[Christopher]

Considering it was not finished, I thought the village was ok really.
Not sure why it was not finished though, did not look too complicated a task.

Will be interesting to see what it finally looks like finished and if the ACO see it as an ongoing evolving area of the circuit, or will they just leave it for another decade(s) until it starts to fall down again.

If you look at my previous posts, you will know that ACO-bashing is my bete noir!  I have visited the circuit half a dozen times or more during the last year and can tell you that a huge amount of work has been going on all year.  Don't forget that it was not just the village that was being re-done.  They are re-modelling bits of circuit (which has upset a few people I know as well it might, but there it goes), are having a tramway built alongside/through/under other parts of the non ACO bit; are building 5 new pits and have built a new tunnel (which pedestrians can now walk through in safety and avoid p***heads on bikes etc).  The eta for the new village was always 2007 and I guess they knew that they could put up temporary stuff there whereas if they had been late with the trackworks, the race could not have gone ahead.  This year the Classic is being held in July, not September, so they can start again.
Another sport I love, horse racing, had a similar disruption to two of its major courses in the last couple of years - Ascot and Kempton - and what did they do?  Closed the things down altogether and moved the events to other, sometimes controversial, venues.  Wembley anybody?
Please reserve judgement on this. Ta.

Not sure I was bashing the ACO to be honest.

As I said in the full post generally I thought it was ok. It is nicer to walk around even if the stalls / shops are not of real interest to me.

Granted, the whole re-work that has gone on and is planned to go on is a huge task no doubt, I just thought that the actual village structures did not look that complicated that they could not have finished more of them.

It was more a comment than a bashing.......

[Christopher]

will they just leave it for another decade(s) until it starts to fall down again.

Even a fairly brief drive through France will demonstrate the French style of property maintenance!! Not that I am knocking it, I rather like the faded crumbling grace of many of their old buildings - far preferable to the decking and laminating of Britain that the likes of Titchmarsh and Lawrence Llew-Bow are spreading.......it even makes me think I might be able to afford a little chateau of my own, one of these days!   

Agree with what you say for old world buildings.......

But I think the image the ACO has created with the new village should be visually maintained.

Old wooden sheds can have a certain appeal when the elements and passing of people have left their mark, but modern materials need to be maintained or they will just look scruffy......rather than possessing character.

[delaney64]

I only got to see where they had got to at Test weekend - which wasn't as far as they wanted to by all accounts. The old sheds were cockroach ridden and needed repainting by the poor unfortunates who rented them before they could even lay out their wares. I know it looks a bit corporate but you can't knock the ACO for wanting to upgrade and improve. They are investing huge sums to make things better...would we really prefer dodgy loos??? Atmosphere and history are one thing but let's not let being misty eyed about the past blind us to the upside of progress.
As to lateness of finishing, who knows? Termietermite rightly draws our attention to the fact that that they could have closed it all down until they'd finished but they carried on as best they could  - I think the track took precedence (but was the pit exit lane a good idea the way they had it this year?)  That would have been like moving the Last night of the Proms (oh they did that already?)

[termietermite]

It was more a comment than a bashing.......

Fairy nuff.

[Kpy]

I only got to see where they had got to at Test weekend
- (but was the pit exit lane a good idea the way they had it this year?) 

If you mean the way it was for the Test Weekend, it was changed for the race after good sense prevailed over FIA advice.

[delaney64]

[If you mean the way it was for the Test Weekend, it was changed for the race after good sense prevailed over FIA advice.

You are quite right...thanks for that! Doh!

[24hourman]

While I would have prefered the old village was maintained as it should have been instead of having fallen into decay, I quite liked the new one.
What is certain, had the aco not pulled down the old one, it would have fallen down fairly soon.

Wide open plaza with TV screens, some trees giving shade, bars where not charging the earth (poo bar excluded) and the loos where good.

hopefully when its complete it will be even better and I hope the aco can maintain it.

lemans25 - a couple of points, do the aco own the houx annexe site? I don't think they do, so have little control over its future, the swimming pool ban was not the aco's doing, there is a water shortage in that part of france.
I can't see why the aco would want to ban fireworks, if they tried it would be pretty hard to police in any case.

btw after 27 years without a break, I have every intent of returning next year.

Good post Nordic. I agree with every point. No, the ACO does not own Houx Annexe.
lemans25 - The ACO firework display was to celebrate their centenary. Given the amount of fireworks we let off in France on 14th July, I really can't see why the Préfect should even dream of banning them on the campsites.

I think you will find that it is illegal to set off fireworks on any camp site in France  let alone Le Mans it is just that the ACO or the french police at present decide to ignore it.

[DelBoy]

I think you will find that it is illegal to set off fireworks on any camp site in France  let alone Le Mans it is just that the ACO or the french police at present decide to ignore it.

You may be right, but remember, apart from Houx, all sites are just fields, so are probably not subject to the same laws.

Del