Formula 1 Monte-Carlo Grand Prix 2013: a neophyte’s impressions

Though I was following the races online, I had a full effect of presence, as we live in the Port Hercules, where both the start and finish lines are located; the entrance to the audience rows was also passing through our yard. Thus, we were always very much into the celebration of the Grand Prix together with everyone else.

Let’s begin with the fact that a several weeks BEFORE the Formula we had been left without our amazing meditation view at the port, and instead received the view at the backstage of the Grand stands. The walks down the harbor had become overcrowded, and the public increased in numbers. The freeway had been fenced all the way down.
Several days before the big start the ticket boxes had appeared here and there, and then we left for Provence for a week, and returned in the very middle of the event.

Having made it through La Turbie, we hardly started congratulating ourselves with the victory of going through the inevitable traffic jam, when it turned out that we could not get to our home due to the traffic restrictions. We had to leave our car at the train station’s parking lot, and walk home by feet. According to a polite but relentless carabineer, we had had to make a permit to get to our house by car several weeks in advance. We could not recognize our house: tents with souvenirs and snacks had created a totally different landscape, and we preferred to watch the crowds from a safe distance, that is from the balcony. Yet, the public was decent looking.

Next morning was not quiet either, and the racing cars of the Formula accompanied our breakfast. Watching the races online, and hearing the noises through the window gives you a very interesting feeling.

After the Formula ended, the audience was walking down the freeway in a tight crowd, and many were taking photos at the start line pretending to be racing cars…

Around twenty hot heads were looking through the window above the finish line. They were singing some songs from an international pop repertoire, which pleased the passers-by, who were dancing to the rhythm and recording this on their phones. Fun was also all over the streets cafes, and live music was playing there, too.

The national exultation was passed all over like a spring virus, and we promised to ourselves to pass the course on Grand Prix illiteracy liquidation to exult knowingly, and not just to be sociable.