Bain de Soleil; Mini. Convertible. Cote d'Azur. C'est si bon.(News)

Byline: NATALIE NEFF

This is a story about whimsy. An hour after stepping off the plane, a cadre of black golf shirts direct us to drive through the Provencal countryside across foothills of the Alps and back along the French Riviera into Marseilles. They hand us keys, a route book and a Mini-blazoned cap. We'll see you here, they say (pointing at a spot on a map), for lunch.

Ugh.

At new vehicle press launches this sort of automotive Calvinism is the norm, with footsteps predetermined by a zealous PR staff, a zeroed odometer and a squiggly line for direction. Most times we comply, dutiful journalists bent on evaluating The Hardware.

Not this time. Two hours from Cannes and fitted with a Mini Cooper convertible, we weren't following anybody's rules. We had a film festival to crash.

** Just about a year ago, not long after taking delivery of our own long-term test Mini, BMW's Mini group confirmed it would build a convertible version of its gangbusters hatch. Our car-with its go-fast hood stripes and go-kart handling-was already an office favorite, hardly enjoying an idle day. It turned the world outside into our own personal gymkhana and every outing a scene from The Italian Job (at least in our heads). Frowns were forbidden within its confines; we looked at our Mini as happiness incarnate. News of an impending soft-top only whetted our appetites for more.

Fast forward then to France, with fond memories of our long-termer still wafting through our heads. Gripping the steering wheel filled us with a familiar mischievousness. The orange car begged for adventure.