The French city of Le Mans is most known for its race circuit, La Circuit de la Sarthe, and the world oldest automobile endurance race that takes place there every year in June, Les 24 Heures du Mans. Rolex has been the official time keeping partner of Les 24 Heures du Mans since 2001 and when the race is on, there is never a more exciting time to be in Le Mans. But the city itself offers much more than a simple racetrack, making the entire week of Les 24 Heures du Mans a perfect time to come and make the most of the city's cultural and historical offerings.

Le Mans is located an hour and half from the Charles de Gaulle airport (Paris) and is the capital city of France's Sarthe department. One of the city's most beautiful attractions is its very well preserved old town, also known as Vieux Mans or The Plantagenet City. These 20 hectares of cobblestone streets are surrounded by a Roman wall and are home to Renaissance mansions and an enormous cathedral, the centerpiece of this historical setting.



During Les 24 Heures du Mans and from 27 June- 29 August, nightfall brings new life to Vieux Mans as the city puts on a light and sound show known as "A Night of Chimeras". Set up as a free walking tour, six key sites in the old town are the destinations, while the walk between them is punctuated with gargoyles, chimeras and other magic lanterns that reflect onto building facades and the cobblestone streets. Designed as a tribute to the old town's heritage, this tour through two eras of Roman and Medieval history highlights the Chevet and porch of Saint Julian's cathedral, the Pans-de-Gorron wall, the academy garden, the Saint-Hilaire wall and the court of the Plantagenet museum. The light show is extensive, covering entire buildings and creating living illusions on these historic walls.

The Plantagenet City is often used as a setting for shooting movies given its natural architectural heritage and the good condition in which the centre is kept. Who needs a Hollywood medieval city backdrop when Le Mans provides the real thing? Films such as "Le Mans" (1959), "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1990), "Le Bossu" (1997), "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998), "Julie Chevalier de Maupin" (2003), "Molière" (2006) and "Nicholas Le Floch" (2009), in addition to others, have all used Le Mans as a backdrop.



Worth noting is that the museum of Archaeology and History, Le Carré Plantagenêt, will have it's inaugural opening on 18 June and will have exhibitions on the history of the town and the surrounding territory going all the way back into prehistoric times. Outside of the museum are some additional historic treasures worth seeing, one of which is the Musician Angels, a unique mural of an angelic orchestra in performance that was painted on the ceiling of the Virgin Chapel in the 14th century. In this masterpiece one can see certain medieval musical instruments that have since disappeared from existence and this is the only visual representation in the world of these instruments today. These very angels come to life as part of "A Night of Chimeras," and they dance, sing and play their music on the cathedral's walls.

Le Mans is also a city with a unique natural side. L'Arche de la Nature is a 450-hectare space dedicated to preserving and promoting nature. With farms, gardens, an old water station, forest and of course, many walking trails, the Arche attracts almost 500,000 visitors every year and is one of the most visited regions of the Sarthe department.

But beyond the museums and beyond the nature, there is one very important spectacle that takes place in the town centre of Le Mans during Les 24 Heures du Mans: the annual Driver's Parade, the Friday before the start of the race. The parade begins and finishes in the Place des Jacobins, the large open square in front of the cathedral downtown Le Mans. The parade lasts about two hours and the crowds fill the streets of Le Mans, lining up hours before the 18:00 start in order to have the best view.



The parade begins with a selection of international, limited-edition, high-powered supercars that in the 2009 edition included the first ever public showing of a Zenvo ST1, a Gumpert Apollo Speed, a Citroën concept car, a Tesla Roadster, cars from Porsche, Spyker, Wiesmann and more.

Following the supercars were the drivers, sitting side by side with their team-mates in vintage edition vehicles. Each team was preceded by a motorcycle with a lovely lady on the back, carrying a sign announcing the name of the team and the car in which they were riding. Live marching bands punctuated the parade and even the Michelin man was wandering through the crowds.



In the 2009 edition, defending Champion Tom Kristensen had a moment on the microphone and said he was looking forward to the race start. "I look forward to a great battle against the very strong competition. I wish you all a good race, from the spectators to the teams- vive La France and vive Le Mans!"



All in all, the parade is an essential part of the race weekend and, as most motorsports fans know, the most likely moment when one can get a lucky autograph from one's favourite driver. The city of Le Mans does a fantastic job of making everyone feel at home here, uniting its rich cultural history with its strong role in the world of auto racing, making Le Mans much more than a simple race- to see it all one needs far more than 24-hours!

Rolex is the “Official Timekeeper” for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Le Mans Series. The new Asian Le Mans Series is set to launch this winter with events in Japan and China, and, in North America, Rolex has been the title sponsor for the Rolex 24 At Daytona since 1992.

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