French Grand Prix - F1

I left Paris on Saturday to see the French Grand Prix in Magny Cours. I hired a car from Hertz, which as usual was no problem, and drove towards Orleans. We stopped for a bit of sight seeing there and enjoyed a walk around a very beautiful city. I'm sure I say that about all the French cities I have been to but it's true. There is a pretty centre square with plenty of cafes and shops and a huge gothic cathedral. I even ventured inside which provided a nice relief from the heat. I would have liked to stay a while but we had to move on.

From Orleans we went straight to Nevers. You could immediately tell the F1 is the biggest event of the year for Nevers and the surrounding towns. There were people everywhere who were entertained by Renault's F1 stand and at least 6 or 7 bands playing around the town. We queued up to eat at a little Italian place and had a tasty pizza and insalata caprese, my favourite salad.

As usual, I do things without thinking too much and booked the Formula One tickets at the last minute. This meant there was no chance for me to find accommodation in the area. We decided to spend the night in the car and considered staying in Nevers but decided, at the last minute, to move on to Magny Cours. I thought it might be a bit of a drive but it only took around 10 minutes. I didn't have a ticket for the parking, which is compulsory, but was lucky in that they were selling them at the gate. That set me back 30 euros which seems like a lot of money to pay to park in a paddock with the stinkiest toilets I have ever seen and no showers. We preferred to find our own 'toilet' by a quiet road as using the ones provided would have meant putting your life at risk.

The good thing about spending the night in the car park was that we got up a 8am and only had a 10 minute walk to the circuit. Once inside I bought a 500mL bottle of water for 4 euros because I was dying of thirst and then bought some F1 gear. Ferbent got a black Ferrari cap and red t-shirt and I got a BMW cap which was great. The caps were 25 euros which was fine. The hats were by far the best thing we bought because it was stinking hot. They said it was 34C but it seemed a lot hotter. I guess because the stands were uncovered the constant sun made if feel worse.

We didn't make it in time to do the pit lane walk as that started at 8am. That was a bit of a shame but not that big of a deal. There were a few races during the day including the GP2 and the Porche Supercup. I thought those cars were going fast until I saw the real deal later in the day! These were followed by the driver's parade where they do a lap in vintage cars. The actual formula 1 race started just before 2pm.

We had seats in stand (tribune) J and the tickets cost 220 euros. They weren't the most expensive but not the cheapest either. From that stand you can see the hairpin corner in the distance and the straight (well they weren't going flat out but I think you could call it the straight) in front of us. I think there are better stands. There was a big screen tv in the distance but you could barely see it. I think stand L would have been better as it is right next to the hairpin or maybe stand C near the start/finish line. Of course those 2 stands were much more expensive at 330 euros per ticket.

The race got off to huge cheers which were soon drowned out by the noise of the F1 cars. I had no idea they were so loud. It was literally deafening. Schumacher was first and stayed in position 1 throughout the race. I saw a couple of cars spin off the track in front of me in the earlier races and the same happened in the main race. I think it was Webber but I'm not completely sure. He retired shortly after so it must have been him. The race was interesting at first, seeing how quickly 'Schumi' got ahead of the others but as soon as he started lapping people if became difficult to follow. It was hard to work out which cars were racing for position and which were at the end of the race. Plus I couldn't work out which drivers were which in the same teams. I know they have different helmets but it was impossible to tell at the speed they went by. I got pretty bored at the end and was just waiting for it to finish so I could get out of the heat. Everyone stood for Shumi's victory lap and then we left.

The real disappointment of the day were the poor facilities and organisation. We were stuck in the car park for more than 2 and a half hours. We weren't budging at all. I only got out when I did because I left the queue I was in and went through a ditch to get to a moving line of cars. If I hadn't done that I might still be there! It was really difficult because it was so hot, there was no water, and no toilets. It was really bad. I don't know how they could let some people leave and not others. It's not like we were moving slowly, we weren't going anywhere. It was really ridiculous. One exit for 10s of 1000s of cars is not a well organised event. I think this problem was caused by the lack of public transport. The circuit is in the middle of nowhere and so there are no trains, or regular buses. Everyone had to go by car, except for the previledged few who went by helicopter. I understand it is a difficult task to get so many cars out of one place quickly but that situation was completely unacceptable.

Once on the autoroute it was pretty smooth sailing. There was a lot of traffic as it was the end of a long weekend but I was still able to travel at the speed limit. I didn't want to pay any tolls so took the scenic route back to Paris. It took a lot longer but was well worth it. We went through some really beautiful villages and if we hadn't been held up leaving Magny Cours then we would have had time to stop. All French towns and villages are beautiful. They always have cute little streets and squares and the obligatory church. It seems the most beautiful villages had views of the not so beautiful nuclear power stations. I wonder if they get extra government funding as some kind of compensation.

The weekend was hot, dirty, tiring, and expensive. Parts of the F1 were enjoyable but was it worth it, no. They filthy toilets with no toilet paper and no soap and the unacceptable wait in the car park ruined it for me. Never again!