Traveling to London/Paris. Hethel/Le Mans?

[yeller77]

Mates,

Now that the Royal Wedding Hoopla is passing, I've got a family trip to London and Paris planned for the first week in June. I'll unfortunately miss by a week the VIP shindig that Travis (Vulcan Grey) is lucky enough to make and that Bibs is busy giving away on other forums , but would dearly love to be able to work out a day trip for myself and my 14 y/o son to Hethel and try to get in on at least a factory tour for the average punter. Is this a reasonable venture in terms of time, availability, and convenience of travel? If so, what would be the nuts and bolts of working it out? I haven't totally ruled out an overnight stay in a b&b so it might not be a totally exhausting day trip, but would have to worry about my wife and daughter being left alone to shop in London with carte blanche. I'd naturally also be happy to share a pint with any TLFers along the way!

Part deux is winding our trip up in Paris June 11-14 and I'm just now realizing Le Mans will be ON! With a one hour TGV ride from Paris to Le Mans it seems to be tailor made for a Sunday day trip. Any suggestions? There's a few grandstand seats left beyond the mid-front straight zone, including Wollek at start-finish. Would suk to be raining, though. Worth it just for a grounds ticket alone? And how easy to get back and forth from the train station to the track? Ditto above about leaving the shoppers in Paris unattended, but at least it's on a Sunday.

Thanks for any info guys! It's shaping up to be a fun trip and I'm determined to sniff a little petrol along with the sight-seeing!

Cheers!

Eric

[fitz]

if you tip up anywhere near norwich be sure to let me know Eric and i'll pop over and buy you a pint

[yeller77]

Thanks Richard! With any luck I'd say I shouldn't be far!

[yeller77]

Well, looks like I'm on me own then! I'm defininitely going to make Sunday at Le Mans. As to Hethel, IIRC, there used to be a nice lady at the factory that you could email to find out about the availability of visits and tours. Anybody have that info? Or, was that only in the bygone, pre-Ferrarified days.

[yeller77]

Anybody up for lunch in Norwich next week on the 8th? Train gets in about 11 and have some time to kill before the punter's factory tour at 2pm? (Richard, expect a PM ) Extra excited as I've arranged to pick up a build history on my car from Andy Graham while I'm there!

Eric

[JamesD]

I'm dealing with Alex at the Driving academy and he is organising everything for me, Pm me if you want his email address, He is very helpful and friendly. pity our trips aren't coinciding, I'm going to Le Mans first and then to Hethal the next weekend. if you at Le Mans and get a chance then I would love to Meet another Lotus driver

[yeller77]

I'm dealing with Alex at the Driving academy and he is organising everything for me, Pm me if you want his email address, He is very helpful and friendly. pity our trips aren't coinciding, I'm going to Le Mans first and then to Hethal the next weekend. if you at Le Mans and get a chance then I would love to Meet another Lotus driver

Hi James! Just noticed your post. We are getting ready to move on to Paris tomorrow. The factory tour was a treat, not only for the excitement of seeing Evoras and Eliges being glued together but just to stand on hallowed ground, a rarity for those of us living thousands of miles away. By all means, hook up with Rich if you can. I enjoyed getting a ride in his Excel back to Norwich station, one of the few road Lotuses I've never gotten to see. By all means, hook up with him if you can. We weren't able to visit for long due to schedules but his suggestion of Rushcutters and Woodforde's Wherry were spot on!

I'll send you a PM. We're only getting to Le Mans about noon and will make the best of it. Would be great to hook up!

Also, another Hethel note: When at the factory, avail yourself of the shop, all items are now 60% off! I got two polos, a t shirt, and a fob for all of GBP29.

I'll try to put some more notes down when I get home and collect my thoughts and wits.

Enjoy!