Pau

PaulSands · 17 Apr 2003, 19:11 (Ref:572396)

Has anybody from the UK ever been to Pau? more to the point did they drive? How was the drive, how long did it take, which ferry crossing did you use.
I'm toying with the idea of making a long weekend and going to the GP de Historique Pau May 30 - June 1.
Hey maybe we should get a coach up?

Rob29 · 17 Apr 2003, 19:30 (Ref:572409)

Been there 4 times,only the first visit in 1981 was by road.Page & Moy did a 14 day coach tour.London-Lyon-Monaco-Avinjon?-Pau-?-London.Think we left Pau on the Tuesday morning,with one overnight stop before reaching home.

PaulSands · 17 Apr 2003, 19:41 (Ref:572420)

ooohhh long trip then...hmmm Page & Moy I hadnt thunk of them for this

Rob29 · 18 Apr 2003, 07:53 (Ref:572860)

Sorry Paul,they never did it again.There were only 25 of us on a 40+ seater bus,so aparently it did not pay.Went by air in 85,86 & 92.Getting too expensive-was about £600 for long weekend in '92 -though I did check in at Gatwick next to DC & Paul Stewart!

gfm · 18 Apr 2003, 09:13 (Ref:572915)

I twice went by road. Real hard drive but can be done in a day no problem. Did Calais, much longer, and Portsmouth/Cherbourg(?) overnight crossing. It's worth mentioning that being caught for speeding in France is an expensive game. So if you are driving hard, don't take the ****! Autoroutes are the only way, good but dear. Great circuit, beautiful, well worth it. Local crumpet and ice cream georgeous.

eclectic · 18 Apr 2003, 09:56 (Ref:572951)

There are cheap flights by Ryanair to Bergerac, its a 4 hour drive to Pau, if 4 of you got together... hired a car etc...
Which weekend is it? Maybe there might be a class for the Bugatti T44?

glyn parham · 18 Apr 2003, 20:20 (Ref:573494)

I did it with a friend back in 1988. We chose to take our time and did it in two days, taking time out to look at intersting places along the way. Spent one night in a small village just outside Bergerac and had made the mistake of eating in the town, turned out that hotel was rather a good gathering hole for gastronomes.
Stopped off at Nogaro to look at thw track and were surprised to discover that Ligier were about to undertake some testing. Even more surprised when Guy Ligier turned up, followed by Rene Arnoux in a hired Pug 205. Arnoux spotted the crowd and then tried to be clever and perform a handbrake turn into the tunnel under the track. The result was extremely funny as he cocked up big time and nearly creamed it into the wall.
Stayed at an Inter Hotel on the Pau-Tarbes road, excellent cuisine (try the duck,it is the local speciality) which was booked in advance from the UK. Plenty of top quality restaraunts in Pau to choose from, but stay away from the park at night, apparently the locals who frequent it are prone to swinging handbags!
Entry into the track is cheap and it is possible to walk around a large chunk of it to find a good spot to spectate. We chose the Station hairpin on raceday and were not disappointed, I mean to say, how often do you see a Porsche try to mount a lamp post.

PaulSands · 18 Apr 2003, 20:48 (Ref:573514)

Ryanair flies direct to Pau...its around 150 return

Heebeegeetee · 24 Apr 2003, 18:03 (Ref:579700)

Two years ago I caught a cheap flight (Easyjet? can't remember, sorry)for about £70 return from Stanstead to Biarritz. Cadged a lift from airport to Pau, plenty of others going to races on flight, hang around the car hire desks at the airport...

Caught train back to airport - lovely journey on a sunny afternoon, the only sun that was seen all weekend.

As it's a street race it's not necessary to have a car when at the circuit, reccomend booking hotel before departure though.

This was for the historic meeting. I have a few pics at:
http://uk.msnusers.com/ActiveClassics/pau2001.msnw

PaulSands · 24 Apr 2003, 19:48 (Ref:579834)

I'm thinking I've probably thought about this a little too late to arrange sitters and the like and am setting my sights on Spa in September now...maybe Pau next year

PaulSands · 24 Apr 2003, 19:52 (Ref:579839)

nice pics