An American in Provence

On Sunday, Alain and I went with a group of people from his karate club on an outing. The leader of the club is an avid Vespa collecter- he has 17 antique Vespas in excellent condition. He lent some to the others, but Alain and I rode on his motorcycle. (oh sore rear!) We arrived at the appointed time, 9 am. in order to find that we were the only ones who had yet arrived. The others dribbled in over the period of an hour. Sure glad we slept the previous night at his parent's so that we could be on time! It took awhile for everyone to get there, get organized, get gas, etc. We finally left around 10 am, and then immediately stopped because one scooter was not working properly. The rest of us went to have coffee in Alliens. This was 11 am. We finally got back on the road a little before 12, and went up into the beautiful countryside near Gordes. Where we stopped again We stopped for lunch, whereupon I took this picture. The Vespas were blue, red, yellow, black, green, and purple. There was also an antique, topless car for extra supplies and for those who were tired of riding to sit in.
We had lunch, then headed back down to where we had had an appertif and the men played boules while the women walked to a nearby "vide grenier" (literally attic empty, like a yard sale). We rejoined the men around 4, and headed back to Pelissane. I was starting to feel quite sore, so I rode in the car, only to discover that that was worse. Had to hold on for dear life, and the wind was incredible. Unable to talk and had to cover up the face and head so that it doesn't get blown off. I was glad when the day was over.