Thursday

Matt has to be off early this morning as it’s a good few hours across to Circuit Paul Ricard. He also has to pick up Brandon from Marseille on the way. As always I’m sad he’s leaving me but at least Tonia is here to keep me company.

Matt: Brandon has won another points auction, this time for a 3-day paddock club pass at the French Grand Prix, and I get to be his +1 again (good for me that his wife hates motorsport!).

A relatively easy 5 hour drive over and I met Brandon for a quick lunch in Marseille before we head out towards the circuit.

Circuit Paul Ricard is notorious for bad transport links, and while most people stay at hotels in Marseille on race weekends it’s been known to take 3-4 hours (each way!) to get to and from the circuit.

So instead we have chose to stay at the campsite at the circuit itself, so we’re only a 10 minute walk into the track.

Of course it’s not just any camping, it’s Glamping with a pre-erected tent, power (we charged up the car by plugging it into the tent), beds, etc.

Tonie – Well, Matt may be off for a weekend of fun and frolics, but we aren’t all on holiday (apparently).

For me, whilst I may have been allowed out of the attic for the day, it is back to the never-ending story for me – that would be the 2 year old wood pile. Pulling out ‘sticks’ that were a good 10-15 feet long, chipping them down, trying to get some of the fir branches through – these seem to clog the machine somewhat and require a fir amount of back and forth (did you catch the pun), switching the chipper on and off and clearing out the bin at the bottom, I felt I had made some good headway. Sadly however, with a solid 3 hours of wood chipping under my belt for the day there seems to be basically no discernable change to the size of the pile. The pile of chippings does appear to be growing however, so there was some evidence of the hours of manual labour put in under the burning summer sun.

As I had been working away in the garden, Chan had taken in an unexpected delivery for Matt…

Chan: So a weird delivery turned up today. Cressida and I had quite the conversation about it:

Me: I love a delivery that even after you open it you are not clearer as to what it is or why it arrived..!

Cress: 🤣 🤣

Me: It’s obviously a bottle but why and what for?? Also there are two of them

Cress: A quick google search and it seems it’s a hand blown decanter!

Me: Ok, so why do we have one, let alone two of them? Is having a Tesla on the drive not ostentatious enough that we need these to look like a prick when the car’s not there?!

Tonia – Back in the garden, having become disheartened again with the wood pile, it seemed clear that there were more jobs to do outside, this time I would be getting some assistance as we were into Chan’s domain, the potager. Naturally, I am not allowed to do anything that could cause upset, I was mainly on watering duty, it was clear some of the plants were in desperate need in the heat and Matt had taught me how to work the automatic sprinkler system before he left. We also sent some time admiring Chan’s corn which was coming along very well and must have been hitting about 6ft tall.

With the outside chores done for the day and nighttime closing in on the mountains, we decided that if Matt was going to get the fancy stuff, then we also deserved a bit of a treat, particularly as we had been working all day. So, it was time for Champagne and a rotisserie chicken for dinner before a relatively early night as we have 3 packed days ahead of us.

[21 July 2022]

Friday

Matt: Up early and have wandered over to the Paddock Club entrance which hasn’t quite opened yet so we pass the time watching some of the F1 drivers arrive for the day and posing for photos in their parking spots before they finally let us in to the VIP area.

Paddock Club is F1’s ultimate VIP package which gets you access to a special lounge area built directly over the pit garages, plus unlimited free food and booze. There are many lounges for each of the main teams and sponsors, but our one is from Emirates airline who is one of the main sponsors so we access to all sorts of perks like watching a support race from the pit wall, VIP visits from Alain Prost and David Coulthard, and being able to go hang out in the actual paddock area behind the bits where the teams have their giant motorhomes and all the media hang out interviewing drivers.

We also got to check out the F1 world championship trophies up close, and go on a truck tour where they loaded us on the back of a truck and drove us around the track.

Then it was off on another special tour during the F1 practice session with trackside access to an area where normally only the marshalls are allowed to be. Pretty cool to be that close to the cars running at full speed.

After the racing sessions are done we managed to blag our way on to yet another truck tour at sunset and then there was a concert set up on one of the corners of the track. Pretty knackered after a full day and plenty of champagne so it’s back to the camp site for a rotisserie chicken (complete with foie gras side) and off to bed as tomorrow is more of the same.

Tonie – Having realised that Chan gets somewhat depressed when Matt goes away, and particularly if it is doing something super fun that she would want to do, I decided to be the typically awesome twin and book a special event just for the two of us.

Having looked at some of the various local attractions, I had narrowed it down to the French equivalent of ‘Go Ape’, what looked like some epic ziplining and white water rafting. Chan had apparently been very keen to go on the white water rafting trip for some time and see the local scenery from a different perspective. Whilst Matt was hob-nobbing with the stars, we were going to be getting up close and personal with the Garonne!

As we are about to leave, we came to find that whilst Chan was being lovely the other day in cleaning my car, she had unfortunately left the keys in the ignition and the battery was as dead as a dodo. Fortunately, as we had minimal time to get there, ‘the beast’ actually started on the first turn of the engine and we were off.

We had a great time in some rather oversized, rather worn wetsuits, we had a great guide who was doing his best to translate all of the instructions for me (the only non-French speaking person on the boat). We saw some wildlife, jumped of an 8ft ledge into the water, wrestled on the boat (intentionally and with the permission and support of our boatmates), the mother of the rest of our group was also thrown overboard by her family and generally managed to forget that Matt was the one out “having a good time”. Anya welcomed us both back, she and Chan were getting closer and the afternoon out definitely put a smile back in Wink’s face! Chan also decided that since Matt and Brandon were no doubt off drinking champagne so if you can’t join them, beat them (by having it cold and in nice glasses).

Sorry we forgot to get wetsuit pics and there was nowhere to stow a phone on the trip (it would have likely got lost at the bottom of the Garrone) so nothing to share sadly.

[22 July 2022]

Saturday

Matt – Up early again as there is no point trying to sleep in when staying in a tent in a busy campground in the summer, so we might as well head on in to the track before the sun hits our tent.

We’re there a little early again so spend 20 minutes or so watching the drivers arrive and do autographs before they open the doors to Paddock Club. We’re amongst the first in to ensure we get one of the best seats, right above Yuki Tsunoda’s pit garage.

Lots of fun watching the support races, eating amazing food, drinking champagne and getting a few selfies with some of the celebs who pass through the paddock club area.

We have also discovered that we can access the area right beside the podium. When Liam Lawson (a kiwi) won the GP2 race Brandon and myself managed to get right up front and sang the New Zealand national anthem loudly enough that Liam heard us and came over to pour champagne all over Brandon during the winners celebrations. Lots of fun, if slightly sticky!

After the main F1 qualifying we blagged our way onto yet another truck tour, and then another concert before heading back to our campsite.

Disaster however, the campsite shop has run out of foie gras, cold beer and wine! [How French!] And they only have a single food van selling burgers with a queue of about 9000 people in it.

Luckily the shop still has some rotisserie chickens (with potatoes) and baguettes so that we managed a pretty civilised dinner back at our tent before another reasonably early night. Race day tomorrow and we get to do it all over again for the third day in a row.

Tonie – Play time yesterday was over, that ceiling in room 7 wasn’t going to take itself down. As I got back into the attic I found I had left quite the mess when I had decided to finish a couple of days before so the first job was to clear it all up before wrecking it again.

Having taken the rest of the ceiling out, cleaning up 7 again, vacuuming the rafters in both 5 and 7 the next big job was actually getting the 10 bags and 4 baskets of rubble down 3 flights of stairs. Although I had been trying to be careful not to overfill the bags, the first 15 feet are ok, the next 20 steps down are manageable and the rest is just not very fun – though it does help with the Chateau exercise regime, you get your steps in with weight lifting.

With the work done for now, it was definitely time to hit the pool. As Chan and I were doing lengths in opposite directions, I heard a slight splash… having assumed this was just Chan kicking up water, I had not been prepared to turn around at the end to see Anya in the deep end of the pool, very focused and paddling her little heart out to get to the other side. Though I was confident she could make it, I quickly swam across, she had made it to the other side but couldn’t get herself out, with a bit of help she was shaking herself off and scowling at the pool before running off to lay in the sun and dry off.

Rather than us cooking, JC had invited us for dinner. Although Chan and I had flipped a coin earlier in the day to decided who was going to drive (I won, so she was to be my chauffer) I decided to be the bigger person and would be designated driver. For those of you who know me, this is a very unusual event and this is your cue to recognise just how much of an awesome sister I am. A quick jump start and Chan and I were off, Chan was adamant that I was massively on the one side of the road, it appears that my car is considerably smaller than a Tesla and she was also sat on the ‘wrong’ side of the car.

Cressida made some delicious chicken skewers with roasted peppers, homemade mayonnaise and new potatoes – if you haven’t tried Cressida’s food (which obviously very few of you will have had the treat) I can tell you it is always delicious and this was no different. With Chan suitable soused, it was time to roll her into the car and drive back.

With a narrower car, she directed me ‘the back way’ which was somewhat shorter but also much narrower with less light and more windy roads, I got us back safely and Chan was adamant I needed to be ‘paid back’ (in a good way) for staying sober. So when I told her to surprise me with a drink when I got back I had not been expecting the whole shelf of random liqueurs from the basement. Some are horrible, some are bearable and a couple are not too bad, but I would recommend maybe having a beer or two before you crack them open just to dull the taste buds a touch.

[23rd July 2022]

Sunday

Matt – Yet another early start as we again want the best seats in Paddock Club for watching the race. Today it seems the food includes unlimited lobster and rib eye!

Lots of drivers visiting the paddock club to do interviews and Q&A sessions. It was a bit hard to get close to some of them, but I cunningly figured out which back door Max was using to enter the paddock club and managed to grab a quick pic without many other people around.

With about an hour to go before the start of the race and we get to go for a wander down the pit lane. During this time we notice some classic convertible cars pull up on the start grid so we wander over to take a look.

Suddenly we realise that everyone else around us has a special top and pass saying they are media, and they’ve closed the gate behind us. We play it cool and figure that if we don’t draw attention to ourselves maybe nobody will notice that we should be there.

Next thing the drivers all pull up and climb into the cars for the drivers parade. We’re standing a few feet away pretending like we’re also official media, although we probably look a bit silly with our phone cameras compared to all the professionals around us.

Nobody seems to notice though and we get some amazing pics before the drivers all head off around the track waving to the huge crowd.

A great race, and afterwards we again manage to grab our special spot to the side of the podium. This time we managed to yell loud enough to get Lewis Hamilton’s attention and he comes over and fully sprays us with champagne.

Then we’re back off out the back into the proper F1 paddock (the area normally reserved for teams, drivers and media) to see if we can find any celebrities.

One more after-race concert to end the day, except we decided to take a slightly different route and somehow ended up in the VIP section between the stage and the barrier holding back the crowd. We certainly weren’t supposed to be here, but again we played it cool and enjoyed the space before finally wandering back to the camp site for a final rotisserie chicken (still no foie gras!) and a decent nights sleep to sober up before the drive home in the morning.

Tonie

So, today is Sunday and I have actually been given the day off… Whoopee!!!

Well, there is one job, usually Matt would do it, but with him being away it was over to Chan and I to try and figure out how to get the screen set up so that we can watch the race from the pool as it is way too hot to think about being anywhere else. After some toing and froing (and a bit of telephone assistance from Matt) we had it set up.

After downloading about 5 remote apps onto my phone, due to an unexpected remote freak out that was nothing to do with Chan and water, we were able to get the TV to the right channel and we were all set just in time for the start of the race with drinks in hand.

• Feeding the cat in the veg garden to keep the dog out

Dinner this evening was another round of Chan’s not quite pizza… I think she enjoyed it.

[24 July 2022]

Monday

Tonia – Sadly, as Monday came, so did my return to working my “real” job again so little to report for the day. Though, Meow decided she would try and help me putting some slides together, unfortunately the typing she managed (as she walked across the keyboard) was not very useful – she’s as much assistance as Anya.

With some tidying around the flat in anticipation of Matt’s return and a new guest tomorrow Chan and I called it a day. Chan was off out to the garden to take more pictures of the Sunflowers that were in full bloom.

Eventually Matt and Brandon returned home from their rather excellent adventures and we were all ready for some rest and relaxation in front of the TV. Time for an early bed for everyone.

[25 July 2022]