Disembarking off a pleasant Air Emirates flight via Dubai, I landed in Beirut to be greeted with 38°C, coupled to 90% humidity; this heat-wave contrasting with a relatively mild start to Spring in the Cape.

Nothing quite prepares you for Beirut. All preconceived notions were swept away as I was driven to my hotel: the Intercontinental Le Vendome, on the famous Corniche in the heart of Beirut. It’s a luxurious French boutique hotel – with exquisite guest rooms, restaurants and lounges – that overlooks the Mediterranean. It was to make my stay in Beirut all the more pleasurable.

The first day with the Maseratis dawned hazy and hot, which did nothing to appease the angst I felt at taking the wheel of a pristine Grand Cabrio. Driving on the right-hand side of the road in Beirut is not for the faint-hearted. Here, a four lane highway suddenly becomes eight lanes, with drivers edging into spaces that would barely fit a bicycle.

Happily, Maserati’s Grand Cabrio is a truly wonderful driving experience. A sculpted body shape is coupled to a luxurious interior, but it’s the performance that really impresses. Roadholding is close to ‘on rails’, braking instant and the impression of solid security absolute. A first as a four-seat convertible, the Grand Cabrio presents via an elegant, pristine body and announces itself with an engineered growl from its 4.7 litre V8 engine; the package is therefore, demonstrably whole.

The route took us along the famous Beirut Corniche on the seafront, with its spectacular natural limestone formation of Pigeon Rock, on and upwards to the Al Chouf Cedar reserve some 1 500m above sea level and unique as the oldest documented forest in history. The Cedar is the national symbol of Lebanon.

Report by: Linda Ransome

January/February 2011 Issue

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