A bit of an erratic sleep as the lack of double glazing to the street junction and a snuffly nose didn't help. We had been advised prior to departure that although breakfasts were included, this stop would only have a "little breakfast" meaning probably nothing more than coffee and croissants. We were therefore pleasantly surprised to find a full continental breakfast complete with fresh squeezed orange juice – though one or two struggled until it was pointed out that juicing the oranges was much easier when you switched the machine on.
The night before, we had a knock on our door just after we'd switched out the light, from John & Judith, asking if Paula wanted to go on the Sylvie de Christo private tour, as one person had dropped out at the 11th hour. As we did a day with Sylvie last year (see the 2011 blog for Monaco) and had one of the best days of the trip, Paula didn't take much persuading.
That meant I made my way into Monaco on the train (€4.60) though no one checked the ticket...
The full F! Monaco GP is 2 weeks away, so running the historics on the same track is a brilliant use of the facilities and also I presume, acts as a dummy run for the flag marshals and officials to get their systems in place. It also meant that directions to the various stands started at the station platform.
I wandered off with a clear intention of heading for the pits, both the F1 pits (use for the 1973-78 F1 cars) and also the quayside where the others were parked. At this point, the circuit was still open to road traffic and I managed to walk straight past the security into the F1 pits, which at that time of the morning, were very quiet, as the circuit wasn't fully blocked off until 1pm.
A wander along with no crowds was a pleasant start to the meeting and then I walked down to the quayside, which was even more interesting.
I bumped into several of our group but also a regular visitor to NZ for the big festivals.
By this time, security had tightened considerably and Jan McLaren had arranged for driver Frank Lyons, (a regular in NZ along with his wife and son, who also race) to take us through the F1 pits in groups of six. Most informative.
Although the circuit closed at 1pm, it wasn't until 3pm that the action started, with first practice/qualifying for two groups (large grid, split into 2) for the pre 1985 F3 single seaters. Now at this point, I have to confess, that this is my least favourite race group of the 7, and practice was punctuated by long delays - which was the structure for the whole weekend.
Being a Friday, with tickets for Saturday and Sunday, there were no real restrictions on which stand you could sit in so although our tickets were for K8, I sat in K1!
The sun was quite warm and I packed up before the end of the day to avoid any rush back. Although the signs were good heading to the track, heading back to the station wasn't quite as clear! When I did manage it, I met up with others but it wasn't totally clear which platform to use. We managed eventually and I got back to the hotel a matter of minutes after Paula, who had a great day, visiting places that were totally different from last year.
We ate at the same place as last night and now we are in France I had – tagliatelle.
Monaco for the racing has always had a magic that the modern, sterile purpose built tracks couldn't possibly compete with, but the reality is that as a spectator, you are generally confined to a stand with a wire fence between you and the action, that severely limits your ability to take decent photographs. My mission was to come away with as many decent photographs as possible of as many of the competing cars as possible.
The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that the pic at the head of this blog that started as an image acquired from the internet, it now has one of my own (after several comments from my brother that it was about time I put one of my own up there).
Tomorrow, more qualifying/practice and Paula will be with me. I hope she isn't too bored.
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