Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Le Puy Notre Dame Retro Grand Prix

26th July sees the Retro Grand Prix in our local village of Le Puy Notre Dame. This normally quiet corner of France comes alive to the sounds of convertible Morgans, Bugattis, Amilcars and the odd vintage Rolls Royce. Here are a few photos from last years event to whet your appetite.

Cordoned off by bales of hay, the entire village becomes a race track for the day. The local vignerons sell their wines by the glass and the BBQ's spring into action.


More to follow soon......opps mid-blog and got a phone call to say that our dog Willow had escaped and had made his way down to the local nursery. Quick diversion whilst I jump in the car and go to collect him!

Now back to the grand prix....


Vintage motorbikes are allowed compete too. This includes a side-car race and the opportunity to wear old leather helmets with ear flaps - very alluring. Here Olivier from Le Puy au Vin checks out a problem on his old vintage some thing or other.



Along with a few more photos of noisy engines....


.....and shiny badges of desirability.



...see how they shine!


...and to make our day there is even a convertible rainbow Amilcar.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Peter and Caroline who have a house at Argenton-les-Valees had a stunning time with four friends at the Retro Grand Prix. What a fantastic event in such a lovely town. Thanks to all who organised the day. It's in our diary for next year.
Incidentally i've a stack of digital photographs taken on the day taken with a high shutter speed and would be happy to either upload them to a fast sight or drop off a CD to someone central.
Thanks again for a great day, in Devon the rain is torrential and i'm expecting Noah to arrive soon with his outboard.

Kind regards,

Peter
pete.tansey@hotmail.co.uk

Roger said...

This event looks great to me,We visited Angoulem this year for the retro races but next year we would like to visit Le Puy Notre Dame.

At least two couples are interested in visiting and entering with tow 1930's MG,s.

Our problem is tha we need help in contactin the organisers. I know the area and think it would be a great venue.

Any help would be appreciated rogercadogan@talktalk.net