5:30 AM, Paris, Place du Trocadéro: Armelle and I are waiting for our rendezvous to show up.
With the sun still down and the weather cold, we keep our attention on any uncommon noise coming from the streets around us. Every sound is picked up individually, scanned by my brain, ranked by probability… but nothing corresponds to what is supposed to come.
“Is that it? No, it’s a motorbike…”
“What is that rumble? Oh, it’s a wheelie bin…”
Suddenly, everything turns clearer!
Kicking the early morning calm out of the window are two goddesses of excess.
Not even in sight yet, the rumble keeps on rising in volume and four round headlights begin to pierce through the bushes of the plaza.
Creating a subtle purr, a Ferrari 512BB appears, followed closely by an eye dislodging, ear piercing, fire spitting, red devil: the legendary F40!
At this moment, I have a sensation that could best be described as the feeling after 5 cups of espresso coffee: I turn crazy and never have I ever been this awake.
In short, the best alarm clock I could ever dream of!
The sky is beginning to light up. We set up our shoot for the rising sun on the Place du Trocadéro. But, after minutes of waiting, we decide to face reality: the sun is hiding behind the clouds and there is nothing we can do. So, we decide to make a few meters more and go to the Pont d’Iéna, facing the Eiffel Tower. Excitation warms me up from the inside, I feel like I am living a dream. On the other hand, Armelle is feeling cold and a bit useless. It’s not the ideal locations to shoot with her, yet.
After a few pictures, we head East and up the Seine River. While I try my best to keep up with them in my Mini that usually doesn’t get unnoticed, I understand it is impossible to stand out when you are alongside the GOAT…
Even the 512BB seems to not get any attention.
After three (definitely loud) traffic light pulls, we stumble upon four policemen riding motorbikes. In the F40, the passengers try their best to be forgotten. Not the time to get pulled over for inadequate noise level!
We arrive at our destination.
The menu: Armelle, a baguette, Notre-Dame de Paris and a hardcore Ferrari.
Time to shoot!
… to be continued in the next episode.
