‘Petrol head’ to see and do around Le Mans and / or places to stay?
It’s not clear when you’ll arrive at Le Mans from Cherbourg and / or how long you plan to stay.
The museum at the main entrance to the race circuit is worth a look.
The M24 museum invites you to dive into the fascinating world of motor racing: Endurance, Formula 1, Rally, IndyCar…
www.lemans-musee24h.com
The French national tank museum at Saumur is worth a look.
Internationalement connu pour sa collection unique de plus de 800 engins, le Musée des Blindés de Saumur retrace toute l'histoire stratégique, politique et
museedesblindes.fr
You can drive around quite a chunk of the 24-hour circuit, from roughly Tertre Rouge, clockwise, along the Mulsanne Straight, around Indianapolis and the right angle right turn at Arnage Corner, then up as far as the Porsche Curves.
As to the Hotel de France, I / we haven’t been back since 2016. Oddly enough, I won’t be going back until the English owner (who took over just after June 2016) has gone. I met her after our last Friday lunch in 2016, as the old French owner (who we knew really well) introduced us. She (the new owner) was there when our repeat booking for 2017 was written in the diary. Everything that subsequently unfolded was unbelievable.
Where to stay?
Le Mans is a big city. Outside of the ‘historic’ centre (and of course the race circuit) it’s not too remarkable. Better perhaps would be Saumur, which is quite a nice town with lots of choice.
Why cross to Cherbourg? St Malo or Caen are arguably better arrival ports, if heading to Le Mans.
