Thursday, July 28, 2011

24 Hueres du LE MANS!


To give you some background information, Le Mans, is one of the oldest car races on earth. It is hosted every year in the city of Le Mans, France and has been a prestigious race for years. Le Mans is not just a car race, but it is 24 straight hours of hard-core driving and intensity!  For many Le Mans is a way of life….a religion. Fans go nuts for the opportunity to be spectators and come in thousands to watch these high tech cars race. One of the major players of Le Mans is Audi Sport and we are lucky enough to know one of the best engineers Audi has on staff…..our great friend, Justin Taylor.  Justin offered Miguel and I two tickets to Le Mans in September 2010 and we quickly said, “ABSOFRICKINLUTLY” We were also so thrilled to find out that one of my best friends and Justin’s wife, Elizabeth Taylor, would be joining us for the festivities as well! Miguel and I were so excited! We had been looking forward to this weekend for almost a year! HOLY AWESOME fast cars and great friends!!

We had no idea what was in store for us as we began our estimated 3-hour drive from Paris to Le Mans. Our “easy” 3-hour drive turned into 7 hours of complete craziness. We first had to fight standstill traffic for 2 hours just to get into the city limits of Le Mans and even before we could head to the race we had to pick up our tickets at the “châteaux” we were staying at with the Audi race team. Seemed easy enough, but we ended up getting royally lost in the French countryside and had to stop and ask the local law enforcement for directions. Completely hilarious because trying to understand French police speaking English is like trying to understand lost American tourists speaking French. 2-hours later we found the chateaux and finally made it to the race!

The vibe is amazing and so exhilarating! Fans dress up in crazy outfits, alcohol is poured by the gallon, all nationalities/demographics are present, and everyone has their game face on! We are ready, we are excited, and we are in line for beer…..it’s time to cheer on Audi!

Elizabeth Taylor and Court






Love my Nasty!

Best Dressed!

Our Handsome Dudes


View from our seats.

2011 Le Mans Winner - Audi R18 TDI

Killer view

Audi is hugely popular and our high expectations we not disappointed. Audi won Le Mans and we (with thousands of other fans) rushed the racetrack to try and get a closer look at the winning team! Biz and I kissed the celebrated track and we all just stood a starred soaking in such a great moment! We were also granted access into the champion garage! We cheered with bottles of champagne, took pictures with the winning car, congratulated the drivers, and had dinner with the Audi crew! It was so awesome….a once in a lifetime kind of experience.

Court and Biz jumping over the fence
This is AWESOME!


Kissing the Le Mans track
Dutch crazies are everywhere

Mini Biz and giant tires


Justin's Groupies....For life:)




Getting my party on with Stuart and T-Money

No words....just love!

Sugars

Miguel's favorite moment...pic with the winning car!

The Drivers





Soaking in the vistory





Audi Dinner



Super Duper






Thank you so much to Justin and Biz! Miguel and I will never forget the highlights of Le Mans and we will gladly be your groupies anytime!!! It was great to hang, to chat, and cocktail with some of our favorite people. We love and appreciate you so much!!!


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Drinking and Driving


Ireland: 6/4/11 - 6/10/11

We were not sure what to expect of Ireland, but we were very excited.  Our trip in Italy had been fabulous and we had left in a high after spending a week in Positano. Our Ireland itinerary was slightly ambitious since we were planning on covering four cities and 1200 KM in four days before stopping in Dublin for two days.  The best way to summarize our Ireland experience is that we drank and drove! No worries these were not enjoyed simultaneously or in close proximity of each other.

Our foursome was energized and as strong as ever.  Italy was our travel training ground and we passed with flying colors.  From here on there was nothing that would stop us from conquering the Irish pastures, pubs, and tiny roads.  We arrived in Dublin and immediately hit the road in our Peugeot  3008 towards Galway.  Our first sights of the Irish landscape are everything you would imagine and more.  The green pastures adorned the countryside as far as the eye could see and if you didn’t know better or you were an alien you would think that only sheep and cows inhabit this place.  We loved our time there and especially the Guinness Brewery!

Cliffs of Moher






The Moonwalk has nothing on me...checkout my moves doing the Windwalk



Copycat....I like your style







Dingle

Flipping freezing


He thinks he is being stealth
Peek-a-boo

Everyone is named Courtney!

Roadside altar
tiny tiny roads...make sure to pullover when somebody comes the other way!

And yes, there will always be dancing!
I love that booty!

Gallarus Oratory, built over a 1000 years ago! Still water and air tight.

My long haired handsome piece of greatness! 

I LOVE this photo. Morgan smiling with her eyes! True talent. 

2 of the 3 crazies!


Killarney

Smelling beer not drinking beer...weird

Delicious! 

Yes, she drank them all.


Look at that....true love! Next door to each other! 



Mom's favorite hot chocolate ever at "Courtney's Tea House." More Courtneys!


Cashel





Dublin

Careful Momma! 

Chocolate, cream, and coffee....YUM!

Serious "drinking chocolate!" One of the best experiences ever! 



Awesome!

Guinness Brewery 

Tons of barley 


365 degree view from the bar at the top of the brewery.

Waiting for perfection. You must wait until the beer turns fully black before enjoying!

Life changing....who new I would LOVE Guinness!

Pretty!


Perfect Ending!