On the Road to Saint Tropez

Alex DiLena is a rather intuitive person who rarely plans his day, yet when he presses the button to start his 1947 Mercury woodie (that morning last autumn), his next three days are more or less set.

From Morbier in the French Jura Mountains (by the French/Swiss border), where he lives, he has to head for Switzerland, stopping off at Geneva airport an hour away to meet his friend, Daniel Pazani, who is flying in from Nice in the south of France. This is a bit out of the question, given that this is near the end of a three-day road trip!

In fact, it’s very amusing to us that Daniel, who has just got off the plane, joins the trip to retrace his steps. As the two men have been friends for a long time, it turns out that Daniel is also a woodie enthusiast, and driving this magnificent car, restored twenty years ago, on such a trip is a particular thrill for him.