Posted in haste, I meant the Thillois hairpin, which my old company cars in the late 80s, and at other times, were happy to approach at around 130 down the hill, and a good speed past the pits. In those days the old auberge was still there, I think.
I am delighted to see what has been done to the environs as I was horrified at my first visit in 1986, at which point I wrote to the varicose Chairmen of Renault, Citroen, Simca etc plus Total, Michelin, Kleber, etc on a regular basis, drawing their attention to what could be done with making it a local historic place for car clubs etc to meet. Retrospectives were just coming into modest vogue then. The paddock behind the pits was still half decent rough overgrown land which would easily lend itself to renewal at low cost, and the car park behind the Tribunes entered under the tunnel, would make a wonderful centre for displays and the like. I suppose I should have written to the local Prefecture and Mairies
They clearly did not share my enthusiasm or vision as my letters, in good French, elicited the proverbial five eighths of rien in response. Hence my delight at what has been achieved.
Interestingly, when we got out of the car alongside the pits on the first occasion, the first vehicle driven past us was a camion owned by Transports Beurlys, which appealed to my sense of coincidence.
Incidentally, in Reims itself there was an excellent museum where they had good detailed maps on the wall of the old circuits plus photos. The museum centred on the designs of the legendary M Charbonneaux, and there was a wonderful display of model pre WW2 Alfas.
Roger Lund