A Visit to Circuit de Sarthe: Race Course of the 24 Hours of LeMans

A Ford GT40 from the movie "LeMans 66" 

with yarn taped to the car to show airflow during testing

After seeing the movie "LeMans 66" in Paris (English with French Subtitles) I rented a stick-shift Opel and drove west to the town of LeMans, where in June of every year the 24 Hours of Lemans is held.  I have watched parts of the 24 Hours of LeMans on TV, but had never seen the circuit. I have been a fan of motor racing all of my life, primarily Formula 1 car racing, but also sports car racing at various times in the last six decades.

In most of the history of motor racing, the race tracks are known for curves.  The curves "Eau Rouge-Raidillon" at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, "The Corkscrew" at Laguna Seca Raceway in California, Tabac curve on the street circuit of Monaco, the Maggots-Beckett-Chapel curves at Silverstone and so many more. 

But the signature of Circuit de Sarthe is not a curve, but the Mulsanne straightaway.  Originally run on roads closed for the race, the entire circuit is now a purpose-built race course, except the Mulsanne Straight which is Route D388 in the French highway system. It is open to traffic when no races are underway.

Until 1988 the Mulsanne straight was the longest straight stretch of race track anywhere: 6km or 3.7 miles of full-throttle.  Then in 1988 a Peugeot WM P88 reached a speed of 405km/hr (251mph) and the governing body decided something had to be done to slow the cars down. In 1990 track officials added two chicanes breaking the circuit into three consecutive 2km straightaways. This kept top speed at a safer 225mph.  At 250mph the downforce from the rear wing is so strong it can cause catastrophic tire failure. One car approaching those speeds famously went up into the trees. The car was completely destroyed, but the driver was unhurt.

The website says visitors can walk the track and go the museum. The museum was great with a century of cars and motorcycles, a few of which are in this post.  As it turned out I could not walk the track because there was a 24-hour sports car race in its final hours during my visit. I watched almost 50 cars ranging from race prepped Porsche 911s to a nearly stock BMW sedan circle the track at speed and under a yellow flag. 

Several of the cars spun at the second of the two chicanes on the Mulsanne straight.  They either went into the gravel or onto an escape road and rejoined. Even the cars that collided continued. I saw no race-ending crashes.

Next June I can watch LeMans 2020 and know what the track looks like in person as the top class 800hp race cars circle the 8.5-mile course for 24 hours and as much as 3,360 miles--the race distance record set in 2010.

Motorcycles have raced for 24 hours at LeMans since 1978

Thousands of scale model race cars fill the display cases in the museum

The Suite High of Jerusalem

My first night in Jerusalem was my second night in Israel. The first night I spent in Eilat. All of the second day I drove the length of Israel north from Eilat to Mount Bental near Syria, then I drove back to Jerusalem. It was Sabbath, I did not have a reservation, so I pulled off Route 1 just 20 miles from Jerusalem and surveyed my options on Orbitz.  

Since I had to park a car until I could return it to the airport, I needed a place with low hassle parking.  I chose the Crowne Plaza which wasn't very expensive and had easy access to the road to Jerusalem.  I have been a member of the Holiday Inn loyalty program since 1999 so occasionally I get upgrades.  

But not like this.  

The Crowne Plaza is a tall tower with 21 floors on height above the Central Bus/Rail station.  When I checked in I got upgraded to the 19th-floor suite.  It had a balcony that wrapped 3/4ths of the way around the hotel to the south, east and north and could have held a party for more than a 100 people.  The room was huge.  And best of all was the view. Here is what I saw on the balcony after I checked in: 

This was my room:

And this was the view in the morning:

The hotel: 

Ammunition Hill Memorial Site and Museum, Jerusalem

The view from Ammunition Hill of Jerusalem

One of the fortified trenches 

Ammunition Hill is the site of one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the Six-Day War.  The hill was taken by the Jordanian Arab Legion in Israel's War of Independence in 1948 and held until Israeli paratroopers and armored troops took the hill in June 1967. Michael Oren's book on the Six-Day War explains this battle in considerable detail.

An US-built, World War II vintage Israeli Sherman tank 

A jeep with a 105mm recoilless rifle

An armored truck

The museum on Ammunition Hill is underground. It has a film explaining the battle and a series of exhibit showing and telling hour-by-hour what happened as the battle progressed.

Memorial inside the museum

Multi-lingual exhibits

As with every military museum I visited in Israel, young soldiers are touring the museum learning about the history of the Israeli Defense Force and the key battles of their history.  

Another view of Jerusalem from the battle site

Another of the trenches

The Malmedy Massacre: Nazis Kill 84 American Prisoners of War

After visiting the Bastogne War Museum in Belgium, I drove northeast to the Baugnez crossroads, site of the Malmedy Massacre.  On December 17, 1944, a convoy of American troops in trucks was cut off and captured by a tank column of the 1st SS Panzer Division.

More than 100 American troops were herded from the trucks into a field near the crossroads. Nazi soldiers surrounded the Americans and opened fire with machine guns.  when all of the Americans were dead or wounded, the SS troops walked among the bodies firing a headshot into any soldier who was not dead.

At this point in the Battle of the Bulge, the massacred Americans were behind enemy lines until January. As the battle turned in favor of the Americans, advancing soldiers saw the frozen bodies of their comrades left in the snow. Eventually 43 soldiers were discovered in hiding who escaped the massacre, but 84 American soldiers were dead.

There is a memorial at the roundabout at the Baugnez crossroads.  The name of every American soldier killed is on the stone wall. 

Meeting Eastern Border Podcast Host on the Eastern Border of the EU and NATO

Kristaps Andrejsons, host of the The Eastern Border podcast.

On the third weekend of my trip, I drove from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Ludza, Latvia, to visit Kristaps Andrejsons, the host of The Eastern Border podcast. 

Ludza is Kristaps’ hometown and the easternmost city in Latvia, hence the name of the podcast.  The first thing we did was a small tour of the two big churches in the town—the Orthodox Church in the center of Ludza, and the Catholic Church on the hill above the big lake to the east of town. The Catholic Church shares the hilltop with a ruined medieval castle.  We took in the view of the lake, then went back to the car and drove southeast to Zilupe. 

The Catholic Church on the hill and the Orthodox Church in the center of Ludza.

Kristaps said Zilupe is the easternmost village in the European Union.  When I repeated this on Facebook, a well-traveled friend, Jim Trumm pointed out that Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean is part of the EU, and the place where the first Euro was officially used as legal tender. But if we stay in Europe and the Northern Hemisphere Kristaps is correct.

After a brief look at the dark border area of Terehova east of Zilupe, we went back to Ludza and said goodbye. Then I drove to Valga, Estonia, for dinner, completing my three meals in three countries plan for the day. 

Kristaps started the The Eastern Border with the same motivation I have heard from other creative, motivated people: he was pissed off. He heard a “so-called expert on Russia and Eastern Europe on CNN, who didn’t know shit (pardon my French) about Russia or Eastern Europe. …. It turns out she had been in Russia just a year, mostly in Moscow and St. Petersburg.”

Four years ago, Kristaps recorded the first episode in July of 2015. He discussed the economy of the Soviet Union. Three weeks later was Soviet Culture, the Brezhnev, then the War in Afghanistan. Chernobyl was the following March.  Most episodes are on Soviet or on games. Then in 2017 he added news from his side of the border.  Over time, he has added more news, Latvia 101, and still covers all things Soviet. 

Kristaps is animated and engaging and has a dry wit, so the podcasts are funny as well as informative.  He travels to the US occasionally. Last month he was in Boston and NYC.  He has also been to Fort Worth, Santa Monica and Seattle.  The five states he has been to represent at least a third of the population of America, both coasts, and the gap between Fort Worth and Santa Monica covers most of the range of American politics. 

As with the Jewish Story, whose host I also visited on this trip, I am listening alternately to current and early episodes. I found out about both podcasts after more than 50 episodes were recorded, so I have a lot of catching up to do. 

If you have an interest in Soviet Culture and if you want to hear how democracy is dying under Putin in the Russian Federation, The Eastern Border podcast is well worth listening to. 

At the Armored Corps Museum, Latrun, Israel, a Patton Tank Sliced Lengthwise in Half

At the Armored Corps Museum in Latrun, Israel, one of the many tanks on display is an American-built Patton tank cut fully in half, lengthwise showing the inside of the tank from the driver's compartment in the front to the V-12 twin-turbo diesel powerpack in the rear.

Looking into the driver's compartment in the front of the hull of the tank.

The V12 Powerpack in the rear of the hull.

Looking into the gunner's seat on the right side of the main gun in the turret and ammo racks in the hull.

The main gun in the center of the turret.

Another view of the gunner's seat and the ammo racks in the front of the hull on either side of the driver.

Armor from Entire Cold War and Beyond in Israel's Armored Corps Museum

M60A3 Tank Modified for Israel Service 

The Armored Corps Museum in Latrun, Israel, has a huge collection of armor from 1945 to the present day. The Israel Defense Force has used NATO armor from World War II vintage through the entire Cold War up to the present day.

The IDF has also captured tanks, guns and other armored vehicles from Soviet-supplied Arab armies and has those armored vehicles on display also. In addition to seeing tanks from the outside, there is a display of an M60 sliced in half lengthwise showing the inside of the tank from front to back. The right side has the commander and loader positions and the powerpack, the left side has the loader, driver and the fuel cell.

Here's some of the armor on display:

I'll post the sliced-in-half tank next.

Meeting an Israeli Tank Commander, a Dallas Couple and a Parisian in an Israeli Laundromat

Tonight after a long bike ride, I walked to a laundromat on Jaffa Road, a mile and a half from my hotel. The laundromat had three washers, two dryers and, lucky for me, one other customer who could explain what I needed to do to operate the machines.  

That customer, Joshua, told me that I needed four 5-shekel coins for the washer and at least one 5-shekel coin plus 1-shekel coins for the dryer.  I went to a store around the corner and got Gatorade and the required coins and started my laundry.  

A few minutes later, a couple from Dallas, Tony and Patty, who were on a Church trip had showed up. I told them what they needed for the washer, the dryer and the soap dispenser. 

Joshua came back 20 minutes later and started folding his clothes from the dryer. I thanked him again for telling me how the laundry worked and told him about Tony and Patty. We talked about travel. I told him my first travel was with the Army to Germany as a tank commander.  Joshua was a tank commander in the Israeli Defense Forces IDF! He was on a Megach 6 tank. He served in the 90s, after the Patton tank I served on was retired from the active-duty IDF.

Israeli Megach 6

He told me he was famous in the IDF, not for being a tank commander but for falling from a helicopter.  In 1994 he volunteered to be a MEDEVAC dummy, loaded onto a Huey helicopter on a stretcher and flown to a field hospital on a training exercise. He was loaded on the middle stretcher on the left side of the aircraft, but not strapped in securely.  The helicopter took off, banked left 20 meters above the ground and Joshua fell--and bounced. He remembered the fall and bouncing on landing.

The helicopter landed. The other fake patients were unloaded and the doctor ran to what was now his real patient. Joshua had broken ribs and a collarbone and leg fractures, but no head injury. He could remember the whole incident in slow motion--including seeing hundreds of soldiers watching him fall and saying the Israeli version of "Oh Fuck!"  

The doctor treated the worst of his injuries on the ground and in Russian-accented Hebrew said, "I am sorry to tell you we must put you back on the helicopter."  Joshua made a full recovery.  

While we exchanged injury stories, a young woman named Nguyen (sounds like Wen) came in. We told her about the coins she needed.  She spoke French so I could tell her in French when she seemed confused about the English explanation.  

After Joshua left, I found out Nguyen lives in Paris. She came to Paris from Vietnam as a school girl and went to a school for girls set up by Napoleon in Saint Germain-en-Laye, a beautiful town west of Paris.  We talked about how beautiful the towns are west of Paris: Chatou and Rueil-Malmaison along with Saint Germain-en-Laye.  

Patty and Tony came back and told me about how they were traveling around Israel visiting kids in hospitals and seeing the sights. Nguyen helped a Chinese couple to get the right coins. I put my bike clothes in a bag and left for dinner.   

I can hardly wait to find a laundromat in Latvia!