South Africa | South-africanized German Dieter Losskarn and his wife Franziska went back to his homeland in search of spring – and white asparagus. Obviously topless, to breathe in the still fresh air in the Black Forest, Alsace and the Vosges mountains. The red Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet fitted perfectly into the landscape, slowly turning green after the winter.
What Porsche is for sportscars, white asparagus, which has a big culinary following in Germany, France and Switzerland, is for veggies. Simply the best. And both make you happy, while enjoying them. The noblest of vegetables can only be harvested between end of April and mid-June, while the open happiness of the Cabriolet from Zuffenhausen can be enjoyed all year round. Thanks to seat heating and wind deflector.

On higher ground the sun was still busy thawing all the snow. But the pass roads in the Vosges mountains were mostly dry, with lots of grip. Some sections were still closed and there were signs at the barriers, with lots of French writing, but enough of obviously regularly used space to get around them. We combined Google Translate and our rudimentary school French and came to the conclusion, that we could proceed at our own risk. In this way we experienced some exciting and empty roads, with snow in corners, which the sun hadn’t reached yet.

And the Carrera once again proofed, that it is not ‘entry-level’ at all. On windy, narrow roads like this you simply can’t use any more power and we never lacked any. With the exhaust sound button pushed and the roof down, the background music added to the drama the transforming landscape had to offer. We stopped at one of the seductively fragrant French bakeries - a boulangerie - had coffees to go and some croissants, before conquering the next narrow mountain road.