Le Mans - the opening sequence |
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Driving a Porsche 911S in France, 40 years ago...STARTING AROUND THE VILLAGE OF BRULON... |
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Credit: Marie Fotini... | |
www.popspotsnyc.com | |
View this video before scrolling down "the opening sequence" page... |
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"A slate-grey Porsche 911S with a Stuttgart registration plate zips casually through the picturesque French countryside. It arrives in the city - it's a morning like any other in Le Mans. A young woman buys flowers. The car continues over the section of the circuit normally used by everyday traffic. The street is suddenly lined with two-beam guardrails. The driver stops, climbs out, the camera angle shows his back. The camera pans around and you recognise him as Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen), the top driver of the Gulf Team. With a fixed stare, he focuses on a certain spot beyond the steel rails." {Our Le Mans, page 116} |
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Summary of the car journey (10
locations in chronological order):
- location
1: bridge (crosses the La Vegre between Brulon and Cheville))
- “ 2: trees
road (located near the canal in Fillé by people from Fillé, not visible
on Street View)
- “ 3:
restaurant (in Fillé)
- “ 4: church
(in Fillé)
- “ 5: enters
Place des Jacobins (Le Mans)
- “ 6: facing
the cathedral of Le Mans
- “ 7: statue
Place des Jacobins, Le Mans
- “ 8: junction
Ruaudin road (en route to Maison Blanche & circuit)
- “ 9: passing
Maison Blanche (MARTINI)
- “ 10: stops
the car across MARTINI house
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Location 1 - The 'bridge' road is located between Brulon and Cheville... | |
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From the angles - the clump of trees straight ahead in the distance are at the junction of the D4 (Route de Sable) and the D35, and appear to have been thinned out as per much else of the vegetation... |
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(New bridge dated 2013...) |
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Footnote A:
Location
1
was finally located on the 14.10.17 by
Michel from Le Mans... Michel wrote: "Laval - D357 - Coulans sur Gee - Longnes / Chassille - Joue en Charnie Plus loin le carre four de "la lune" il faut tourner a gauche en direction de Brulon - D4 vous traversez la ville de Brulon vous quittez un peu la ville de Brulon... puis sur la gauche il faut prendre direction Cheville Vous roulez sur la D35 - et plus loin vous allez tombez sur ce fameux petit pont. La riviere qui coule en dessous du pont s'appelle: La Vegre C'est le tout debut du film "Le Mans"
Footnote: B On the 15th & 16th October 2017, John's informative emails unexpectively arrived...
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"I too am in England (SE
London) and was just browsing through websites under the "film
locations".....
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Location
2
- Trees road... In a blog from people living in the area of Fille, discussion about images of Le Mans filmed in Fille and they showed this road with trees as filmed near the canal... |
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This scene is filmed Rue du Canal, the car goes in direction of the village ... |
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Location 3 - Village of Fille (Restaurant & Butchery): | |
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Location 4 - Village of Fille (Church): | |
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Location 5 - enters Place des Jacobins (Le Mans)... | |
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Location 6 - facing the cathedral of Le Mans... | |
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Steve McQueen in Le Mans city location, Cathedral of Le Mans in the background Credit: Marie Fotini... |
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Location 7: Statue on Place des Jacobins, Le Mans... |
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Location 8: Junction Ruaudin (4.5km) - turned on his right, direction Le Mans (8km) on the sign... | |
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Location 9 - Maison Blanche... | |
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To see the old house (MARTINI):
(this part of circuit is now
abandoned)
Article on this part of Maison
Blanche:
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Map of the circuit for the year of the filming (68-71) to show the location of Maison Blanche... |
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Location 10 - stop of the car...
Final location of the journey: across the old
house of Maison Blanche (MARTINI on the roof)
This house doesn’t exist anymore.
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Restaurant des Hunaudières:
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(To the left of the rear of the car is a banner advertising "Polaroil" OIL...) |
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Quick
approximative translation:
Alain Loison assisted him in
locating Le Mans in 1969. A unique experience since this Parisian
photographer was the only one to follow the American star. He got the
exclusivity after a huge combination of circumstances.
The story begins badly for Alain
Loison when he is sent to Orly by his press agency to track the arrival of
the American star.
After missing his photos of
McQueen at Orly, Alain Loison jumps in the car of a German journalist:
direction Le Mans in pursuit of the star.
Alain Loison pursues McQueen
at breakneck speed.
Steve McQueen and his team stop
at a roadside inn. They invite Alain Loison and the German journalist to
join them for lunch.
Steve McQueen invites Alain
Loison to eat and offers him an exclusive report.
When they leave the inn, it is
Steve McQueen who is driving and Alain Loison co driver. They are arrested
at 200 km/h around the Ferté-Bernard (near Nogent-le-Rotrou) by
incredulous gendarmes.
The gendarmes stop Steve McQueen
in speeding, without recognizing him (they thought Steve McQueen was long
dead...)
(Steve even gave his wrists for
handcuffs!)
Then he gets away with a blame
and a moral lesson.
For 10 days, Alain Loison
photographed the star who made scouting on the circuit for his film "Le
Mans".
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The Porsche garage in Teloche is where Steve McQueen went during the filming of Le Mans to service the cars... |
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From 1951 to 1981, the Porsche team is housed at 21, rue du 8 Mai in Teloche, just a couple of kilometers south of Mulsanne. Almost the entire Porsche family stays amongst race enthusiasts in a nearby chateau... | |
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Further Research
-
http://www.rjsmith.com/le-mans-then-and-now.html |
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SOLAR GARAGE... |
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Arnage station and road with racing cars at Railroad Crossing:
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From here, you can see both access to the former Solar Garage:
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