Race Day

Last Sunday was a huge day for Dad and I with a trip to the Grand Sambuc car race track. We left home early in the morning for the two hour drive to the track, near Aix-en-Provence. Dad had packed us a big lunch, so we stopped for a couple of breaks due to the windy roads. We still arrived at the track with slightly green faces after the curvy roads!


Once at the track, we were ushered into the briefing room, before Dad was to drive the Audi R8. It was all in French but we managed to understand quite a lot of the words that were spoken. We were driven a few kilometres in a minibus out to the massive race track. Dad had bought 12 laps in the Audi R8 and I was given 2 hot laps with a racing car driver in a Ferrari F430 Scuderia. (Woohoo!)


Dad started off steadily, but by the end he was going amazingly fast. Dad told me that his instructor was impressed by his driving skills. My driving instructor is a famous race car driver here in France and was very nice to me. He went over 200 kilometres down the main straight. I was yelling in fear all the way. The adrenaline rush that I got was amazing. Dad and I were both exhausted after the big day out.

Yesterday we went to Arles with Talia and the rest of the family. Arles is an ancient Roman city about an hour and a half drive, south from here. Easter weekend in Arles sees a huge celebration called the "Feria Arles". It is celebrating the long history of bullfighting in the city. We arrived to a sea of white clothing, red scarves and bandannas of the excited crowds. There were many markets throughout the city streets and squares. I bought a T-shirt with a picture of a bull and the word Sorteo printed on the front. Sorteo is Spanish. Arles had many restaurants selling many varieties of Paella. The street was filled with the delicious scents, which were too good to refuse, so we enjoyed a plate each.

We walked along the streets for the day looking at the sights around the town. It seemed like everywhere we looked we saw something representing "the bull". We went to numerous displays of artwork and sculptures all with the bull theme. My favourite was a piece of art with tickets glued to a canvas shaped like bulls. Of the numerous Roman sights, the highlight was the colosseum like arena (used for the bull fighting spectaculars). The whole of Arles was in a party mood and as we left the town that night, the street bands were in full swing and looked as though they would party long into the night.

See you next week!