and drove (very fast) to Le Mans. Along the way we picked up Rune and Kjetil in Rune's Torch Targa and Brian Atkins and his fiancee Sabena with their Navy Blue Roadster.

When we reached Mulsanne (just south of Le Mans) we gathered in a supermarket parking lot where we were joined by Mark Taylor swelling our ranks to three black C5s. The travelers scattered to the local stores to stock up on bread, cheese, paper towels, water and various cleaners.

Dan gave us our track passes for the cars:

and we were able to do a bit of detailing work on the cars before Peta organized us into the proper sequence for the parade. GM had asked that the yellow cars lead the parade with the Pace Cars next. Then came red, white and blue sets (with Ken's Pewter Targa passing as "off"-white) and with the BlackHawks bringing up the rear.

Of course, we had a meeting....

... and then we took off for Le Mans. When we reached town were ushered into the parade staging area at about 1:30pm. We spent the next three hours or so detailing our cars (using bottled water but, hey, sacrifices must be made! They all looked terrific -- and, as usual, we drew a crowd of hundreds. Then Zeus (our GM Europe contact) presented us with our credentials -- and, oh yes, we were all wearing the C5R Motorsports shirts provided by GM...

We received our race credentials and special C5 Registry flags (provided by Steve Moore Chevrolet) and were champing at the bit to lead the 68th Annual Parade du Pilotes (race drivers). Here we are, all lined up...

I figured, if I brought her all the way to France (and didn't hit her with the car) the least she could do was detail the C5. Am I right or am I right?

With all the stickers it's getting difficult to see out -- but who's complaining?

The biggest source of interest was the Official C5 Registry show car. With thousands of dollars worth of accessories provided by Corporate Sponsors, this car drew the biggest crowds:

Of course, one of the advantages of being the upload guy is that I can show what a great job IBIZ does on a black C5. And if Robert Nathans doesn't come through with a free case of waterless wash and wax for me after showing off his product at Le Mans, there's just no justice!

Here we are, just waiting for 6pm to roll out of the staging area:

Yes, we're really ready to go. The "Mickey Mitts" were a huge hit with the crowd.

We moved to a second staging area; with us was the Official Le Mans Pace Car,

...and the first 2001 export model ever seen in public. This car is in the new Quicksilver paint -- and has the new exhaust tips. Finally, Corvette has discovered that the stock exhaust was ugly!

Well, we've been in the second staging area FOREVER:

Finally the parade started; what a thrill! It starts at the cathedral at the center of Le Mans and winds through the entire downtown.

75,000 people lining the streets of Le Mans and each of us was introduced to the crowd as our cars rolled up on a stage. It was awesome.

The first highlight of the parade was seeing Dave Hill walking towards us along the parade course. I couldn't help but think of how he must feel seeing all his work culminated in an event like this... Twenty-three C5s leading the traditional parade at Le Mans!

Another of the highlights for the parade attendees was Mark Taylor and Ted Holcombe turning doughnuts in the middle of the street; the crowd went wild. Used up a lot of rubber but, boy, the crowd loved it.

In one of the narrow streets Gael lost her Registry visor and her Mickey Mouse glove to one of the revelers on the street -- and she darned near lost her racing credentials to the same bozo. Apparently the passes we have are VERY desirable commodities.

After the parade we were led into the infield of the race course where special parking was assigned to us.

We locked up the cars (behind a BIG chainlink fence) and boarded a bus to take us home to the Chateau (for about three hours). We stopped on the way for a quick meal at a service plaza (excellent, by the way, as has all the food been in France). Arrived back at the Chateau at 12:30am (I'm actually writing this on the bus so I'll have a chance for a bit of sleep after editing today's pictures and uploading the whole thing for you).

Oh, one more thing. You remember we were expecting to participate in a parade lap on the Le Mans racecourse tomorrow morning at 8:00am? Well, there was a change of plans. We're not getting a parade lap....