The one Grand Prix race I’d watch as a child was Monaco. At the time, I secretly had a crush on Simon Templar aka Roger Moore, and would love to catch a glimpse of him on a superyacht in this world reserved for movies. The whole race was so glamorous and appealing, and my favourite car was the black and gold JPS Lotus.
When we heard you can get free access to the practice run on a Friday, it suited our just-moved-to-France budget very nicely. We found a campsite in Menton nearby and caught the gorgeous train ride to Monaco. Stepping out of the marble train station, all the race scaffolding certainly makes it feel like a movie set.
The grandstands were relatively empty, so we were fortunate to try different spots. We settled on the one closest to the starting line, where you could see the next racers lining up and also the leaders being chequered-flagged.
I could not imagine a noise like that. Marcel got a nifty pair of headphones, but I opted for the full experience. We’d packed a picnic lunch and spent the day watching classics flying around our ears. And with names like Jacky Ickx and Prost being brandied about on the speakers, it was like rewinding a couple of decades.
After the racing, we walked around this fascinating place. Marcel and I joked about taking Muddy Boots, our 90 Land Rover, for a spin around the track.
The noise, the cars, the lack of crowds, the sunshine, the yachts, the Monaco backdrop and my honey to enjoy it with. Fabulous!