Le Mans provided a great break between Les Sables d'Olonne and Paris...and also gave students a chance to meet my host family from 27 years ago! We had lunch (escargots, verrine de camembert chaud, rillettes, marmite sarthoise, tarte tatin) in a student cafe opposite my old high school, my host dad took us on a tour of the historic old town, with 2000 year old Roman ruins and beautifully restored medieval buildings, which may look familiar to avid French movie watchers. H e then took a bunch of boys off to see the Le Mans 24hr grand prix track while the rest of us went shopping.