TouteFrance

Tomorrow sees the last French Grand Prix at the Magny Cours race circuit in Nevers. It’s not a particularly popular race among the drivers and it’s remoteness, being pretty much in the middle of France, means it’s quite difficult to get to, with teams finding it inaccessible. BlogF1 has a bit more about the reasons for Bernie Ecclestone wanting to pull out of this particular meeting, and some discussion as to whereabouts in France it should be held in the future.

I’m not sure that Lewis Hamilton will do terribly well either as although qualifying well, he has a penalty for driving up the back of Kimi Raikkonen in the pit lane at the Canadian Grand Prix which means he has to start 10 places behind wherever he qualifies. It’s unlikely to be a particularly spectacular event!

This weekend (14/15 June) sees the 76th 24 Heures du Mans, with a race which is sure to get the locals rising from their seats in excitement.  For this year sees the duel of the diesels with the Audis looking under threat from main rivals Peugeot.  The first race was held at the Circuit de la Sarthe on the 26/27th May 1923 and has seen no end of triumphs and tragedies.  It seems half of the fans who make the annual pilgrimage to the circuit are British, many getting there a few days before to get the party atmosphere started. 

Interestingly the only person ever to win Le Mans in a car bearing his own name was Jean Rondeau, who lived in Le Mans and won there in 1980.  Jean used to test drive his car around the streets late at night, the gendarmes often turning a blind eye to his activities. 

If you’re going to Le Mans this weekend, lucky you and have a great time. Please let us know about the race, we’d love to hear your comments!

To remind you of the atmosphere of the occasion, I’ve found a clip on YouTube which you may find interesting from the 1999 Season. It’s about 7 minutes long.

The Daily Telegraph has produced a  list of the best family hotels in France, and what a choice there is! Where do you start as so many of them look so nice. I suppose it depends on what kind of holiday you’re after - do you want to stay by the coast, or have a holiday in the mountains or countryside? How far are you prepared to travel, particularly if you have young children? Most importantly, how much do you want to spend as I imagine some of them aren’t particularly cheap!

One of the best places we’ve stayed in which is great for families is Barneville Carteret in Manche, Normandy. We’ve been several times and found a friendly family run ‘hotel’ which is more holiday apartments with B&B at about 60 euros per night, great value! The beach is fab, when the tide is out it stretches for miles with views across to Jersey and the seafood restaurants are wonderful. If you don’t want to travel far when you get to France it’s perfect as it takes about 30 minutes to get there from Cherbourg.