Fabienne Amez-Droz and Masha Nosova at the start of the Rallye des Princesses with Richard Mille’s 1964 yellow Porsche 356 type C on Place Vendôme, Paris

Castles, mountain passes, vintage cars, vintage roadbooks, adrenaline and dressing up. When LUX was invited to drive the classic Porsche 356 from Place Vendome in Paris to the mountains of Andorra, on the Spanish border, via the Atlantic coast, much of La France Profonde and many castles, on the all-women Rallye des Princesses by Richard Mille, we couldn’t refuse.

Over five days, the intrepid LUX driving team, comprising the car-mad Masha Nosova and luxury maven Fabienne Amez-Droz, weathered wrong turns, quick changes for banquets, and the challenge of driving a classic car older than their combined ages, covering nearly nine hours each day in a yellow Porsche 356 type C from 1964.

Their satnav was an old-fashioned roadbook, needing the navigator to be on the ball every minute; and their competition was some of the most experienced women regularity rally enthusiasts in Europe. Interestingly, women make up an increasing proportion of this pioneering brand’s clientele: just one of the ways Richard Mille has reinvented the luxury watch market against all odds. In keeping with the playful yet utterly serious nature of the brand, days picking through routes in rural France were rounded off by spectacular evenings in private chateaux.

Now, as this year’s driving season in Europe gets under way, we look back on our team’s journey across France with long-term partners Richard Mille. Masha and Fabienne take up the story

The Rallye des Princesses isn’t about racing at full throttle, and, despite Masha’s efforts to the contrary, we were not required to shatter speed limits and frighten sheep —this is a regularity rally, where maintaining consistent speed and precision is key, with your timing carefully monitored throughout the course.

All of the Richard Mille Rallye des Princesses cars were lined up on Place Vendôme in Paris, where the rally starts

After a day on the road, the adventure continued with glamorous evenings offering the perfect chance to unwind and connect with competing drivers, and resolve arguments with each other about why we missed the turning back in that village (Masha was driving too fast; Fabienne wasn’t concentrating on the road book).

The rally is unique because it exclusively features female drivers and co-drivers, celebrating women’s passion for vintage cars and racing. Participants race using classic cars dating from the 1930s to the 1980s, adding to the event’s nostalgic charm. Vehicles often include iconic models like Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar, and Aston Martin.

At the Rallye des Princesses you have to navigate the routes with a roadbook

The Rallye des Princesses was established in 2000. Since then, it has become an annual event, attracting participants from around the world who share a passion for classic cars and the thrill of rally racing. The rally has grown significantly over the years, blending competition with elegance and maintaining its reputation as one of the most prestigious women’s automotive events in Europe.

It’s a celebration of elegance, camaraderie and competitive thrill in the world of vintage cars. And also the ability to get changed rapidly from roadwear – the cars generally have no A/C – to evening wear, the mark of a true princess.

Training Day

In the two days leading up to the start, all the participants arrived in Paris. On the training day, the teams got to know the vintage cars and spent an entire day driving around a small village outside of Paris to get to know how an old-fashioned roadbook works.

Amanda Mille, Brand and Partnerships Director of Richard Mille, drove with us on the first day with a vintage Mini

Having arrived at the Equipe Europe garage, where we met and became acquainted with our rally vehicle, the yellow Porsche 356, it felt as if we had stepped into a classic car museum. Specialising in the restoration and servicing of historic and rare racing cars, the vintage Delahayes, Bugattis and Aston Martins (to name just a few) against the backdrop of the picturesque French countryside inspired us for our journey ahead.

When Masha and I first saw the roadbook, we were quite taken aback—how on earth would we manage this?

After a few hours of practice, Masha and I had become a fairly well-coordinated team. In the evening, we celebrated our training day near the starting point at Place Vendôme.

Amanda Mille, Brand and Partnerships Director of Richard Mille, held a welcome speech at the aperitif.

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Race Day 1 – Waving Goodbye in Paris

In an enclosure just outside the Ritz hotel, around 60 classic cars of all types – from Minis to Mustangs, Porsches to Aston Martins, Alfa Romeos and the odd Ferrari – are gathered. We drove through the bustling city, passing by the Arc de Triomphe, along the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.

After leaving the Place Vendôme, we followed the roadbook via the l Arc de Triomphe on the way to Tours

For several hours, we continued through the countryside toward Tours, stopping along the way for lunch at Domaine de Montigny-le-Gannelon and a coffee break at Chateau de Chambord.

To get us through the many hours of driving, the Richard Mille team organised many coffee and cake breaks. On the first day, this break was at Chateau de Chambord

Having concluded our first day of rallying, we arrived at our final checkpoint of the evening at the Medieval La Grange de Meslay, one of the most historic fortified farms of the 13th century.

The first race day was filled with sunshine and rural routes

Each day, we drove around 9 to 10 hours. The routes in the roadbook led us through scenic landscapes and past historic castles.

The finish line of the first day was at a castle near Tours

Race Day 2 – Island Life on St-Martin-de-Ré

After a good night’s sleep and a big breakfast, we prepared to tackle the second day.

All the vintage cars parked next to each other at the lunch spot

The destination for the second day was the French peninsula of Île de Ré, which is a French version of the Hamptons. Along the way, we had lunch at La Mothe-Saint-Héray, an opulent 17th-century fortress.

Lunch was held at L’orangerie de La Mothe Saint-Héray

After turning off our engines, we followed the sounds of clinking plates and lively discourse of our fellow drivers, navigating ourselves through the splendour of orange and lemon trees scattered across the gravelled courtyard.

After lunch with a side of laughter about the sharp corners and unexpected turns, we continued our journey south.

Read more: Car collector king Fritz Burkard on his Pearl Collection

Driving across the 3km Île de Ré bridge that connects La Rochelle and Riverdoux Plage, we decided to slow down, not only for the speed limit but to truly appreciate the expansive sea rolling into the horizon and the sunset visible in our rear view mirror.

Fabienne Amez-Droz and Masha Nosova with car number 27

The day ended near the coast in St. Martin-de-Ré. Upon our arrival to the seaside hotel, we took the opportunity to briefly swap our 4-wheel vehicle to 2 wheels to cruise around the island with bicycles provided by the hotel – experiencing the real Île de Ré – lifestyle.

The vintage Porsche 356 type C driving through the town of St-Martin-de-Ré

The end destination of the second day was St. Martin-de-Ré at the coast

Race Day 3 – Medieval ages in Sarlat-la-Canéda

After our brief stay on the island, we set off again, leaving the salty air behind. The third race day was filled with impressive landscapes and pitstops to several medieval French castles like Château de Villebois-Lavalette and Château de Hautfort.

In case of any issues with the cars or if you got lost, there was a group of very kind mechanics following us and helping us

Palatial gardens, grandiose architecture and the sounds of revving engines satisfied our appetites to early set off for our afternoon leg.

At the end of every racing day, drivers were welcomed at the parking spot with a glass of champagne

At the end of the day, we were invited to a medieval castle in Sarlat-la-Canéda, where we were greeted by ‘real’ knights and princesses. Even the rallye princesses were dressed in medieval attire and celebrated the third day with a feast in the castle, paired with an exhilarating fire show.

After the feast in the medieval castle there was a huge fire show

Race Day 4 – Carcassonne

Spending the night at Hotel Golf du Domaine de Rochebois, we rose in the early hours of the morning to a light and decadent breakfast overlooking the gentle glow from hot air balloons that spread across the rugged and bushy landscape.

On our fourth day, we embarked towards Carcassonne, located in the Occitanie region of southern France, famous for its medieval fortress and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Stepping inside feels like travelling back in time, having an immersive medieval experience.

We stopped for some lunch at Château de Mauriac

Inside the thick walls of the fortress, all the Rallye des Princesses teams gathered for the delicious traditional Cassoulet – a hearty dish made from white beans, sausage, and duck – a must-try in the region.

The scenic route towards Carcassonne took us through little villages along rivers and narrow routes

The medieval fortress of Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage site

Race Day 5 – Alpine Routes of Andorra and Prize Ceremony

A mountainous finale awaited us. The last day took us along misty mountain routes towards the Pyrenees to Andorra. The routes up the mountains were quite foggy and you had to be very careful as the sight was not the best and there were some wild animals crossing the roads.

Our yellow Porsche 356 conquering the foggy roads towards the mountains

Occasionally, patches of the fog parted, offering brief, breathtaking glimpses of the valley far below, where dark green forests and meandering rivers appeared like miniatures before they were swallowed up again by the mist.

Fabienne Amez-Droz with the Rallye des Princesses merch: A cap, a jacket and a foulard

After crossing the border of Andorra, we drove up and down the mountain passes until lunchtime. Our final lunch stop was an idyllic picnic set up featuring specialities from Andorra, which are a mix between French and Spanish cuisine.

The final leg of the journey to Andorra is nothing short of spectacular, with steep climbs, rugged mountain passes, and panoramic vistas – a fitting finale for the adventure.

Lunch was served at the top of a mountain with many specialities from Andorra, which were interesting to try

After 5 days and countless hours of thrilling driving, we finally crossed the finish line and received our well-deserved champagne to celebrate plus a medal with the whole route engraved. We did it!

The last race day was filled with Andorras mountain passes and we had a picnic set up for us on the top of a mountain

The evening wrapped up with a big awards ceremony, and by the time we assembled at our final venue of the rally, an alpine celebration was awaiting our company. The cool evening mountain air shifted us inside where after a moving speech by Patrick Peter, we sat down at our tables, discussing the rally’s most challenging and exciting moments.

The finish line in Andorra was next to a luxury chalet-style hotel, where we celebrated the end of the rally

We celebrated and danced until the early hours of the morning with all the participants of the 60 teams, and as the night began to wind down, all drivers exchanged contact details and promises to meet at future rallies, still basking in the memories of winding roads, breathtaking views, and the camaraderie that only a journey like the Rallye des Princesses can provide.

At the finish line in Andorra, Fabienne Amez-Droz and Masha Nosova received a glass of champagne to celebrate and a medal with the whole route from Paris to Andorra engraved

By the end of the rally, we had all grown together as close friends and wanted to keep driving. An extraordinary and incredible journey by Richard Mille.

Find out more: richardmille.com/events/rallye-des-princesses

Masseria Cardinale is one of The Thinking Traveller’s larger villas in Sicily, located in the countryside with authentic design features

The Thinking Traveller is a villa rental company that offers exclusive access to some of the most desirable properties in the Mediterranean. Guests of The Thinking Traveller also gain access to local insider knowledge through the company’s on-the-ground concierge team who plan bespoke itineraries and experiences. Here, we speak to the founders Huw and Rossella Beaugié about their villa selection process, luxury retreats and their intrinsically sustainable ethos

Rossella & Huw Beaugié

LUX: How was the concept for The Thinking Traveller conceived?
Huw Beaugié: We started the company in 2002. Prior to that [Rossella and I] had been living in Paris, where we met in ‘98. Rossella was a cell biologist doing her PhD in Paris and I was an engineer working in marketing at that time. Rossella is from Sicily, so we had been travelling to Sicily a lot already. We went there in November 2000 and that was the kind of the catalyst. We climbed up a mountain called Stromboli, and doing that made us decide that we would like to move there for a bit, which we ended up doing two years later.

Rossella Beaugié: We started doing walking tours first of all and then very soon my friends started saying ‘oh we’ve got this nice house on the island, would you want to try renting it out?’. So the first brochure we put together had three walking tours with volcanos and hills, and then seven villas, I think. At the time we were doing everything ourselves but it worked.

Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine

Huw Beaugié: There wasn’t anything of great quality in Sicily so we realised that we needed to really help these villa owners to create a property and product that would fit our clients and the people we wanted to be our clients. We started advising [the property owners], helping with design and we even began advancing money to invest in pools or refurbishments. We would make contact with interior designers to help them develop the houses. Really quickly we figured that if we were making all these investments, the only way we could really work with these houses and make it profitable would be to deal with them exclusively. That is one of the things we have stuck with ever since. We started with seven houses and we now have about 220 in various destinations in the Mediterranean, but the really vital and big unique selling point is that they are all exclusive to us and that means we can still keep on investing to make sure the quality and service is right, and to have our people on the ground to support that. We are expanding slowly, being careful to always keep the quality increasing rather than diluting.

Views over the Sicilian countryside from the pool at Masseria Cardinale

Rossella Beaugié: The secret has been that right from the beginning. For the first 10 years we were in Sicily so we were around the whole time and then we started hiring staff who are really knowledgeable people and know everybody locally, meaning they can find the best doctor if needed, the best yoga teacher or if you wanted to organise a dinner we can do that. We don’t have reps who move around, our staff work for us 12 months a year and they have insider knowledge.

LUX: What challenges have you encountered now that your main offices are in the UK and you’re based here?
Rossella Beaugié: We have developed quite slowly. There have been two regions that we were interested in but because we hadn’t found the right people or properties we wanted to offer clients, we decided not to go with them. We are happy with the regions we’re working in because we have amazing teams and the owners of properties share our priorities and ethos. The team here receive so many offers of villas everywhere, we could have 10,000 villas! We get that many offers because they see the website, they like it and we have a good reputation, but we have been careful of where we go and what we take on.

Faro di Brucoli is a refurbished lighthouse in Sicily with views of Mount Etna across the Ionian Sea

LUX: How do you select the villas to represent?
Rossella Beaugié: They tend to come to us. It is usually owners knowing us already, maybe due to our reputation amongst other owners who also have these kinds of top level properties. So what we do first of all is decide whether it’s for us and we can see that now straight away with Google and photos.

Read more: High altitude luxury at Riffelalp Resort 2222m, Zermatt

Huw Beaugié: Probably 70% of them we cut immediately. The next 30% we go further and ask for more information, and then perhaps the final 5% will end up with a visit and a detailed report and out of those, we probably only take on one property.

Here and above: Iola is a contemporary villa located on the Greek island of Corfu with sweeping sea views

LUX: What are the key elements you’re looking for?
Rossella Beaugié: We are now at a stage where we know what our clients want so we have criteria, but at the bottom of it, we really need to truly like the property in terms of style and we have to know that the owner could be a good partner because it’s their house and they continue managing the property so they need to be able to reinvest and sort out problems quickly. In terms of more objective criteria, the location and views are important but it depends on the region. Greece, for example, is really all about location so being on the sea and beaches. Privacy is also important and then there are all the things like ensuite bedrooms, a good kitchen, a nice-sized pool, not being overlooked. Then once we take on the property, we have a list of stuff that they have to have such as good quality linen, appliances etc. We recommend things and then our local managers go and do what we call a quality check.

Read more: Founder of Nila House Lady Carole Bamford’s guide to Jaipur

LUX: Is it important to you to have a wide range of different properties in your portfolio?
Rossella Beaugié: Yes, we have clients that have gone from a very charming, chic, three-bedroom house in Puglia and then they book our best property in Sicily, which sleeps 24 with a chef because maybe they are doing a multi generation family holiday, or it’s someone’s wedding anniversary and they want to invite everyone. So yes, we need diversity in terms of size and level of service. Some people could afford to have service everyday but they just want privacy, they want to be able to go around without clothes if they like. Then there are also different styles of property. Some people want minimal or really cutting-edge design, and some other people want to go to a place in Puglia or Sicily with traditional charm.

Huw Beaugié: We also work a lot with people who haven’t even started building. The optimum situation is when someone comes to us and says ‘I’ve bought a piece of land’ or ‘I’m looking to buy a piece of land, and what are your suggestions?’ Or people say ‘I’ve bought this ruin and what should I do with it?’ With those projects, we are involved from the beginning right through to the delivery. We suggest interior designers, architects, landscape designers, everything. Those are the villas that tend to perform the best.

Masseria Cardinale (here and above) offers guests traditional charm combined with luxurious modern amenities

LUX: Can you tell us a bit more about the experiences side of the business? What can you make happen for your clients?
Huw Beaugié: We try to make anything happen that the clients want as long as it’s not against the law!

Rossella Beaugié: The kinds of things that are becoming standard for us is that everyone wants a cook. Especially in Puglia and Sicily, people want to learn to cook and so we organise cooking classes either in the villas or on vineyards. We have three kids who were born in Sicily and grew up there which means we were able to try out things with them and find out what they found boring. From that, we designed some guided experiences with experts who will prepare the tours on two levels so that it works for the parents and it’s entertaining for the kids. Wine tasting is very requested, and water sports are popular, but then we also have occasions like weddings when people want a Steinway piano in the garden or a certain opera singer to perform.

Read more: Inside The Dorchester Collection’s first branded residences

Huw Beaugié: What we are starting to do more of is themed weeks so things like getting a celebrity chef out to a villa for a week and creating a programme for full immersion in the food, which might include cooking classes, demonstrations and tours of markets. This year, we are doing a partnership with Bodyism so that you can take a wellness instructor out with you to the villa.

The Thinking Traveller has paired up with McQueens Flower shop to offer guests flower arranging courses at Palazzo Gorgoni (above), one of their properties in Puglia

LUX: What’s your approach to sustainability?
Huw Beaugié: It’s the same as when we started. The basic model of restoring or building unique properties in rural locations or old towns using local people to build, cook and garden, all of that is just inherently sustainable. Generally, you’re also using local materials and the money is staying local. The things that have been added to that model since 2004 is more use of solar energy. However, sustainable a client is they never want to give up on air conditioning, which is one of the single biggest consumers of energy in a villa so solar energy supplements that. Then the other big thing is water: drinking water and swimming pool water. Swimming pools lose hundreds of litres of water a day through evaporation so we encourage people to cover pools when they’re not using them and at night. Same with air con, setting the temperature between 24 and 27 degrees, for example, rather than at 18 degrees and wrapping yourself up in a duvet, which uses a lot more energy. In terms of drinking water, we are doing a big campaign to try and get people to install water filters in their homes, which is difficult in the Med where bottled water is standard, but it’s changing.

Rossella Beaugié: We have these little leaflets which we leave in the houses called ‘Think Green’ which have sustainability tips for guests. People are more aware of sustainability issues so it is easier now than it was in the past to encourage these ways of behaving.

View The Thinking Traveller’s portfolio of properties: thethinkingtraveller.com