Some good friends of ours bought us a really great wedding gift, a Raclette party grill. I’ve never seen or heard of Raclette grills before, but apparently they are a Swiss tradition for enjoying food with friends.

The idea is that you purchase Raclette cheese to melt, although you can use any cheese in reality. You place the grill in the centre of the table (with plenty of wine!) and prepare veg and meat items to cook on the hot plate. You can cook strips of steak, small pieces of chicken or port, fish, prawns, etc, as well as vegetables such as mushrooms, peppers, onions, and garlic. One your food is cooked, you pour over melted cheese which you melt in a little tray under the grill. You can serve with potatoes, salad, or anything you fancy.

We tried this briefly at the weekend and it was good fun. I could image with 4- 6 people around a table this could be really interesting, and quite social. Food can be marinated or flavoured in any way you wish, as it is all quite healthy as there is no oil required.

I think this would be good fun to take to the caravan too, as we have a table and chairs in the awning, so sitting around the grill on a summer evening would a novel way of eating, so long as the grill doesn’t trip the site electric hookup !

The thought of losing my car key has always horrified me. It goes without saying that if you lose your car key and have a car like mine (E60 5 Series) there is no way of getting into the car, and there is certainly no way of starting it. This scenario would certainly require a visit to a main dealer on a low loader if the key cannot be found, and at least a 24 hour delay to await a replacement from Germany I expect.

Losing a key in a field at Le Mans (or any camp-site for that matter) would be an even bigger disaster. Being stranded abroad, unable to get into or start the car, would be upsetting!

I do actually have a spare remote fob, but these are £200 each, and not very compact. The plastic spare key on the other hand, is brilliant, as it can be put in a wallet or a purse etc, or hidden away somewhere. Obviously it has no remote features, so you need to insert it into the lock to open the doors (which will set the alarm off until the engine is started) but it will still start the car, and get you into the boot and glove-box etc, and more importantly, it will get you home! They key is cut like the main key, so it operates all doors, boot, glove box and ignition, and it also has the transponder required to start the vehicle. There are service or valet keys, but they only start the car and operate the drivers door, with no access to boot or glove box, so not great as a spare really, and besides, I don’t have one of those either. 

I didn’t get one of these keys with my car as they are no longer standard issue, so I have ordered one at the main dealer which I hope to receive in a couple of days. 

I’ve eaten Marmite since I was a baby, I’ve always loved it. I don’t eat Marmite often (because I don’t really eat toast all that often) but when I do make toast, it’s more often than not got lashings of melted butter, and Marmite on! There is always Marmite in my office drawer at work, in the cupboard at home, and of course, in the caravan!

I think there is an age-old argument between Brits and Australians, to debate which is the better of the two. The Australians claim their Vegemite is, and we Brits insist Marmite is best. I’ve always wanted to try Vegemite to make up my own mind, but it’s quite expensive here, and for one reason or another, I have never had chance.

Today I was given a jar, so I had the chance of trying some on toast. It’s really nice. It is similar to Marmite of course, but it does taste different. I remember my Mum using a black vegetable stock paste when I was a child, and this reminds me of that. The name of the product escapes me.

So which do I prefer?  Marmite of course!  They are different, but there isnt a lot in it. I think Marmite is the more potent of the two, you can probably spread Vegemite a bit thicker.

Like most others who have been to Le Mans, or who have any interest in sports car or endurance racing, I have seen the Steve McQueen movie “Le Mans”. In this movie, the old start line clock, with the words “Dutray” on the face, is very prominent. This clock provided timing for the legendary race every year until sometime in the 80’s, I believe, when it was eventually lost during timing tower renovations. It is still missing to this day. The Rolex clock now provides timing for the race.

The Dutray clock, so I read, was a one-off. Dutray was a jeweller in the local area, rather than a clock builder, and put their name on the clock as advertising.

Many enthusiasts wish to buy replicas of this clock but cannot. Somebody who posted in an online forum which I stumbled upon has replicated the clock face by hand, painstakingly painting each of the numbers and features, as this isnt a font that exists anywhere else. This person is using his painted clock face to produce and sell replicas online, using clocks purchased in IKEA, on which he sticks a print of the bespoke face. I found an image of this clock face as a JPEG file, which I have downloaded.

I thought it would be fun to try a budget version for myself, so I have purchased a white plastic wall clock for £4. I’m hoping I can print the image to the correct size, and then dismantle the £4 clock to replace the paper face with the printed “Dutray” image.

It will be an extremely budget, and poor copy if it works, but it will still be a bit of fun. It will be handy to have a clock on the wall at camp, while we are at La Sarthe, so we can look out for session start times, and to glance at the remaining race time.

If nothing else it will be a nod to Le Mans of the past, and it will cost £4 !

Update to follow !

Today, according to the Le Mans countdown, it is 154 days until the start of the 24 hours of Le Mans. 

I would say most of the planning is done. Travel is booked, most if not all of the kit we need is obtained, and we have a complete check list of things to pull together in the final days. 

I hate wishing my life away, but roll on June 2014 !!