FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not exactly a car person. But as a teen growing up in the suburban U.S., I learned quickly that cars equal freedom. The stomach-flipping thrill and heart-fluttering romance of the open road or even the not-so-open, traffic-choked Long Island Expressway-has never quite left me.
So when I arrived in the drowsy Provençal village of Tourrettes last May and locked eyes with a fleet of supercars, as brightly colored and alluringly dangerous as exotic fish, I could feel my heart beat in my throat-one part elation and one part nerves.
There were seven cars in total. The head-turning, V12-powered 812 GTS (one of two Ferraris) was the first to catch my eye with its definitively Italian, almost insultingly cool air; the over engineered matte-black McLaren 720S gave me goose bumps and Batman vibes, and the French-blue Aston Martin DB11 drop-top gleamed with Bond-style sophistication.
The plan was to take each for a spin over the next two days as part of the new Le Grand Tour Provence, a hedonistic super car "tasting menu" of sorts culminating in the crown jewel of the growing Formula 1 racing empire, the Monaco Grand Prix.
The itinerary was created by Australia based Ultimate Driving Tours-15-year veterans of luxury driving experiences. Before buckling in, founder and CEO Anthony Moss collected our group of 14 die-hard motor heads (and their good-natured, I'm-just-happy-to-be-in France plus-ones) for a briefing. French driving customs were explained ("the gendarmerie is more likely to pose with the cars than ticket them," he joked), and a healthy dose of fear instilled to ward off any recklessness ("blow a tire and all four will need replacing, which costs around $8,000"). Then there was the final benediction, delivered with an implied wink: "Some of the best movie car chases take place in this part of the world."
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