After the exhausting ordeal after crossing into France with the injured Peugot autbus we arrived late in the night in our Mercedes rental van to our hotel room in Le Mans where we were greeted enthusiastically by our promoter and hosts. They had been expecting us much, much earlier for dinner, so it impressed us that they would wait past midnight in order to welcome us. The following morning the Line Dance Club arranged for an “insider’s tour” of Le Mans, first the Le Mans Racing facility by the retired director, then a tour of the old town, by a local businessman. We learned many facts about Le Mans yearly race, including that it is third behind the Olympics and The World Cup in attendance. As to the old city district of Le Mans, it was founded in the second century when the Romans conquered the local tribes. Afterward we were treated to a family style dinner in the home of one of the promoters. The only thing better than our hosts’ hospitality was the response the audience showed us at the concert hall. We signed cds and autographs for over an hour after the final encore. B.B. was a big hit with the Texas-friendly French dancers. Stefano never missed a beat, Scotty Martin, awed the folks who seldom see a pedal steel guitar, and our newfound friend and band-mate Stanley Nesvarba mesmerized the audience with his custom made Tele and Fender licks. We finished with Rio Grande Rodeo Night and La Bamba, but they wouldn’t let us stop, so I came back and played a solo acoustic rendition of “Your Song” by Elton John and then finished with “Seguro Que HellYes,” which I co-wrote with Mike Blakely and Alex Harvey and which was a part of a Grammy-winning album by Flaco Jimenez. Exhausted, we slept in Sunday morning and then drove toward Belforte to retrieve the repaired van, but stopped short of that in Besancon, France, a beautiful city not far from Switzerland. ###More to come. --jam