One morning, the most loyal customers who flock to the gates of the circuit for a coffee or a small glass of muscadet will find the iron curtain of the bar lowered. When ? “I didn’t give the exact date, I’ll keep it to myself, but yes, I won’t be opening again. As enigmatic as it is radical, Jeannine, because anyone who could point a finger at the calendar today and affirm with confidence: it will be there!

We just know that this fateful day is now approaching as quickly as a “proto” launched on its last lap. Because the boss, who is living well and truly, this year, her last 24 Hours of Le Mans behind the counter of her bar opened in 1977, will definitely put her apron back after Le Mans Classic, a meeting of old cars scheduled from June 29 to July 1. “Time to clean up, tidy up, and…” She doesn’t finish her sentence, her eyes twinkling with emotion. Because the story will end for good.

The story of Jeannine and the 24 Hours of Le Mans is displayed on the walls where, like a timeline, black and white photos stand side by side with color ones. Old single-seaters, more recent racing cars, and well-known heads too, including the one enclosed in a frame religiously enthroned between two luminous sconces, like an icon, and whose initials are the great pride of the person concerned.

Because of the race, Jeannine perceives only the distant roar of the engines. At work from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., sometimes longer, the tireless manager doesn’t have time to appreciate the bursts of speed. And in the establishment, no screen broadcasts the 24 Hours. “Oh no, no TV, that would break the mood,” she observes.

And that would swear singularly with the place. From the woodwork to the wallpaper to the lighting, the bistro is like a classic car: in its own juice. Here, the clock seems to have stopped on the era of the Glorious Thirties when, two hundred meters away, the pilots tamed machines with ever more futuristic looks. Two worlds that side by side in a striking contrast.

From one year to the next, people come here to take their dose of authenticity, above all of conviviality. From the dining room to the terrace, no fuss: familiarity is essential and Jeannine Belnou simply becomes Jeannine. “It’s exhausting, but we get people from all over the world, it’s magical to experience that!” she savors.

The proof, in the private car park reserved for customers, the license plates offer a little tour of Europe by proxy: Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom… and, of course, many regions of France. This is the essential stopover before going to smell the Le Mans asphalt.

And it is all the more so, in this month of June 2023, as the former hairdresser, converted to the beer dispenser forty-six years ago, is therefore preparing to serve her final round. Even a group of English people, who didn’t manage to get tickets for the centenary edition, made the trip to greet the septuagenarian.

Until the end of this weekend, the farewell sequence is open, with an uninterrupted parade at the end of the zinc. The “thank you” and “good luck” flow. We kiss then we drown our spleen in a final mousse served by the landlady, thinking greedily that we may have dipped our lips in the same glass as Jacky Ickx, Sébastien Bourdais or Tom Kristensen. All these champions who did not hesitate to leave the paddocks one day for a pit stop in the modest troquet.

There are places that tell the legend as much as the legend itself. While the mythical endurance race is celebrating its hundredth birthday, this other institution – which should however be taken over by new owners – will see its existence frozen even before half a century. But At the gates of the circuit, the memories are indelible.

Consult our file: Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans