Supercars

Sitting down to write this, I’m ashamed to admit, I feel slightly torn. Because La Mirande is like nowhere else I’ve ever had the good fortune to stay. And a big part of me wants to keep it as my little secret, my little escape, a place almost too good to share. Like an enormous warm chocolate fondant, lathered in fresh cream, ‘one spoon only, please’. But despite such selfish temptations, I can’t deprive you of what I have absolute conviction will be one of your favourite stays anywhere, ever.

Sometimes you wonder why on earth a hotel chose its name. Or what they were inspired by. Or who thought of it in the first place. And this is exactly what I put to the manager of Parenthèse Concept Room – a gem of a secret hideaway in the divinely terracotta city of Toulouse. “Parenthèses is the French word for brackets,” explains Jean-François. The perfect name for this boutique apartment, so it would seem. “It’s a secret place where time is suspended,” he told me. “When you stay here it’s as though you put your life in brackets, you put everything else on hold.

When I first got my hands on the Ford Mustang 5.0L V8 GT Convertible 10SP Automatic in Triple Yellow I took it round the track at Millbrook to see how it performed in test conditions. It was impressive on the bowl track, comfortable, steady and very powerful. It was less impressive on the hill track, but it’s not built to tear up and down shoddy roads with inverse cambers and blind hill crescents. In real life conditions it is wonderful. The Mustang, as its name indicates, is bred for the wide open spaces and long roads, ideal for cruising in consummate style.

Set in the province of Salzburgerland are a number of wonderful tranquil lakes so pure that the water is drinkable. I came to Fuschl and her lake called Fuschlsee. From its different angles I sensed the lake’s different character and characters. At night the very few lights emphasised just how underpopulated the shoreline is.

One of the classic races in solo ocean sailing – is set for a record entry this year as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Charting a 3,542-nautical mile course from Saint-Malo in Brittany to Point-à-Pitre on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the Route du Rhum was first held in 1978 and has since established itself as one of the big targets for the world’s top solo ocean racers.

A selection of fine whiskies from around the world to buy now. Most are not peaty whiskies (apart from the Lagavulin), but more akin to a fine cognac,  easy on the nose and palate, with a soft mellow flavour.
Ron Butlin , former Edinburgh Makar / Poet Laureate sums it up best with this beautiful poem.
Wring the Scottish rain clouds dry;
Take sleet, the driving snow, the hail;
Winter twilight; the summer's sun slowed down
to pearl-sheen dusk on hillsides, city-roofs,
on lochs at midnight.

The last year has been all about women and their underlying strength, which was reflected in the clothes, hair and make-up looks seen on the runways in Paris, London, Milan and New York. With animal prints, leather and cowboy fringes dominating the runways, the power woman is back this autumn - seen most evidently in the '80s silhouettes which had something of a revival (think bold shoulder lines and nipped in waists).

Pulling out on to a main Surrey road in the Ferrari 488 Spider could not be easier as everyone spots the car from a mile away and lets you out immediately. It’s like having a special pass that says you never have to wait at a giveway. The Ferrari is pretty in matt opaque white and people just enjoy seeing it curve around the corner and swiftly accelerate away.

L’Hotel in the Rue des Beaux Arts on the left bank in Paris is utterly exceptional, the perfect bijou, boutique hotel. We pulled up in the opaque white Ferrari 488 convertible right outside the door, popped the front trunk and handed our bags over to the concierge. The entrance is discreet and easily missed, but once inside there is an impressive hall that extends past the front desk, though the bar, into the restaurant and ends in the exterior garden with its wonderful scalloped fountain.

The Victoria Palace Hotel is just off the Boulevard Montparnasse, behind the FNAC in the Rue Blaise-Desgoffe. It is an ideal location and laid back pied a terre close to the Jardins de Luxembourg, the Cartier Modern Art Museum and Odeon with all its fabulous restaurants and bars. It has a terrific parking space, which is a huge plus when you arrive in a Ferrari 488 Spider. The parking is at ground level next to the hotel and there is plenty of room.