Planes, Trains and Automobiles

I have been zipping around London by the Tube, been out to Goodwood to see the Spitfire Air Show, the Classic Car Races and Vintage Motorcycles and even squeezed in a run this morning in Regent Park. In an hour it is back aboard the train and on to Paris for a night before departing for Bordeaux at dawn. Whew!

My Aunt Sylvie and Richard were both celebrating upcoming birthdays, and it was my nephewly duty to bring over a few bottles of wine and join in the celebration.

Yesterday out at the Goodwood Revival it was overcast and windy and threatening to rain, but that didn't dampen the tens of thousands of spectators who came out to see the immaculately turned out Jaguars, Aston Martins, AC Cobras, Ferraris, Maseratis, Lancias, Corvettes and other fabulous marques racing for prestige, factory honour and owners' bragging rights. The roar of the race cars was deafening, and the smell of burnt rubber, tortured brakes and brutalized clutches filled the late summer air. By mid day the skies overhead had cleared and we were treated to an astonishing series of fly bys of Spitfires a mere few hundred feet above us.

Sun came out so strongly I had to buy a hat, and in the booths selling all their goods, I spied Stirling Moss signing books and Phil Hill shaking hands. Two great gentlemen...

I spied a Steve McQueen Le Mans movie poster I would have KILLED for, but where was I going to fit in my luggage! Merde!

There was even a race of vintage motorcycles, Nortons, Triumphs, Ducattis, Moto Guzzis and Matchless. It was a treat, to say the least, if you enjoyed the smell of burnt oil and racing gas...

I ran 8k this morning in 36 minutes.

Couldn't find an England football jersey to save my life.

Given the way they played in the World Cup this summer, not all that surprising...

But did get to start the day with a hearty and gresay English breakfast!