I guess there isn't that much call for power tools on the campsites  

Hmmmm. Mind you, I could certainly have done with a good petrol strimmer to shift the acres of advancing weeds, which are starting to cover the taps on Maison Blanche. Instead, I chucked a load of weedkiller on it, in a forlorn hope for next year.

I mean, is it *really* too much to ask of the ACO (who let's face it, are making an, errr, large amount of money from the campsites) to actually cut all the weeds back for next year ?

Ahhh, you mean "IRTA" - I remember that trailer well. Never saw her, mind :-(

But on the general subject of the fair shrinking/things missing, I agree entirely.

Both myself and my father made our annual pilgrimage this year (14th) and several things were noticeable:-

1) The lack of certain things in the fair.

2) The fact that none of the food/drink stalls had any prices displayed - we suspect that this is simply because they're getting too expensive, know it and don't want to put people off initially. OK, it's a cartel situation in that they all charge the same.

3) You almost expect to be ripped-off drink pricewise in the circuit, but perhaps less so in the surrounding villages. The restaurant that we always go to on Thursday lunchtime (La Vielle Cloche in Arnage) seems to have been bought since last year and you can see the changes - we were being charged 3 Euros for a 'glass' of beer and the same for a 200ml bottle of coke - this is more than the circuit !  The drinks prices seemed pretty much uniform in Arnage bars, too - I smell a conspiracy.

I worry about the future of similar at Le Mans due to this sort of thing - what was once a cheap holiday is now becoming more expensive - what with the ferries becoming extortionate (400 quid return Brittany, Portsmouth-Caen).

I also worry if the FIA/Uncle Bernie ever get their fingers into the Le Mans pie - can you see the line of thinking, "Hang on - we're charging 200 quid for entry at a Grand Prix and only 40-odd quid for a week ?"

Time will tell, I guess.

1) They don't work in mainland Europe, do they ?  (Apart from
    some that let you pay extra)

2) Would your average French plod be able to tell the difference
    between the two kinds of devices ?

Errrr yes.

Did people really take that seriously ?

Jeesh....

Hey yeah - myself and father were out shopping at Auchan and we saw that strike, too. We did wonder what it was all about.

We drove past, blipped the throttle and shouted, "Agincourt !".

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.

 

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.