An American in Provence

After months, no make that years, of reading motorcycle reviews, searching the internet, and talking at me about it, Alain finally decided that he wanted his next motorcycle to be a Yamaha FZ8.

He found a used on advertised on Leboncoin, and we went to see it two weeks ago. It is the 2011 version, bought in July 2012. It has 13,000 km on it, and the guy was selling it for 6000€. Original price- 8900€.

Alain decided to take it, so I went and got a bank check for the amount and Alain called his sister, our insurance agent. She said no problem to insure it, just needed the registration ("carte gris" in French). Except the seller couldn't find it. Apparently, he is separating from his partner, needs to sell the motorcycle for the money, and left it at his parent's house, and couldn't find the registration.

We can't buy it without the registration, as it would then be impossible for us to register it under Alain's name. We weren't sure if he really couldn't find it or else someone had offered him more and that this was his excuse.

Anyway, I guess he really couldn't find it because he went and got a replacement registration card.

We set up the sale for Saturday morning, yesterday. We drove west from Marseille towards Toulon, and met up with the seller. Alain signed the paperwork and we handed over the check. We then drove off, he on the motorcycle, me in the car.

Except then it started pouring rain. He had brought his rain gear with, so we pulled over at a rest stop and he changed. The rear tire needs to be replaced, completely bald, so Alain was afraid of having an accident in the rain. We drove slowly all the way to his parent's house, crossing Marseille.

In the afternoon, we went to a Yamaha dealer in Salon-de-Provence, and ordered handlebars for the passenger, a new tire, and a central kickstand. The 10,000 km revision also needs to be done. So next Saturday, Alain has to take it back to the dealer at 9:30 a.m., for a total of 900€, plus the insurance of 1300€, this thing is starting to add up.

Anyway, the new one should keep him happy for a few years at least.

If he starts talking about buying a more powerful motorcycle, he is going to get kicked in the shins.

So now we have two motorcycles, the Yamaha and his Kawasaki ER6N. He will eventually sell the Kawasaki, but will be sad to see it go. It has almost 60,000 km on it, so I doubt we will get much for it. Le Sigh.

A few weeks ago, when we rode Alain's new (used) shiny green Kawasaki to his parents, his mother took some pictures of it and Alain on it. I asked her to email me the photos so that I could post them here and this is what I got.

Apparently, his mom couldn't figure out how to send the motorcycle pictures so sent this instead.

As far as I can tell, it is 7 month old frenchwoman in the making, otherwise known as our new niece Anna.
I know that it is all that grandparents can think about, but still...

After several weekends of hauling and organizing (after several years of painting and sanding and scrubbing and dewallpapering and tiling and and and..)
Our apartment is livable!
Wouldn't drop dead in shame if people stopped by unexpectedly!
We actually have space!
Everything is pretty much
1) off the floor, and
2) shoved away somewhere
which are pretty huge accomplishments.
Now we don't have any excuses to NOT have people over.
What am I to do?!

We invited a couple over Saturday, but that morning they called and said that she (six months pregnant) isn't supposed to ride in a car and could we come over there instead?
Yes, our last childless friend couple has bitten the dust. It's over. We now officially have zero non-pregnant/non-ankle-biter-possessing friends.
(That's not true Alain yells from the other room. He knows a guy at work who has a girlfriend who is not pregnant. Okay, I stand corrected. One guy whom we never hang out with vs. ten couples that do. That's it. Seriously. What's wrong with you people?)

Anyway, Alain passed his motorcycle license and bought a motorcycle. A Kawasaki-green ER6N, 650 cc. For weeks all I heard was "Maybe I should get a bicylindre en ligne ou peut-être un quatre cylindre, mais je ne sais pas, un bi-cylindre a plus de couple à 7000 tours, mais un tri-cylindre consomme moins d'essence. Qu'est ce que tu en pense? " motorcycles motorcyles motorcycles motorcycles.

Silly me. I thought once he actually bought the darn thing we could talk about something else, but now its "Oh she is so beautiful...." We are talking about your motorcycle and not another woman right!?
We bought this motorcycle, a 2008 model with 15000 km from a guy here in Marseille. Alain has had it for almost a week now and is so happy he might just burst.

He is happier than a Frenchman in a vat of wine, but buying it wasn't easy. I went to La Poste in Aix to get a bank check. After waiting in line for about half an hour, I get to the front and am perfunctorily told that I cannot, under any circumstances, get a bank check from them. Why not? Because they are not my Bureau de Rattachement.

No amount of arguing would change her mind. I told Alain he would have to go the next morning to La Poste near our apartment. He went, and guess what?
(All you Americans in France know what is coming, but for everyone else....)
On STRIKE!
Yep. No way were we getting our money. Sure glad it wasn't life or death. Though I am sure that if it was life or death and I went back to La Poste in in Aix I would be told that no, I can't have the money for the emergency heart operation for my dying child who must be operated on today or else she will die, because it's not my Bureau de Rattachement!!!!!
Anyway, his parents were able to get a bank check from their account (not LA POSTE!) and we then wrote them a regular check.
What a pain. thanks La Poste, you keep on giving us a kick in the pants.
Guess I learned my lesson- can't count on them.
We are changing banks, I swear it.

(Mom and Dad, stop reading now. thanks)
Anyway, we rode the famous motorcycle on Sunday to go visit his family. I was a bit (lot) nervous about going on the interstate, as I had never ridden on the interstate on a motorcycle before.
Let's just say, I don't think I will be doing it much.

(I said stop reading mom and dad!)
It was incredibly windy- we were going about 100-110 km/hour and I just wanted to close my eyes until we reached his parent's or got hit by a crazy French driver who just CANT STAND the fact that we aren't going at least 10 km over the speed limit so they absolutely must cut us off as they overtake us, whichever comes first.

(I told you not to read mom and dad.)
Anyway, still alive, and more worried than ever about him driving to karate and back twice a week, though I do actually believe him now when he tells me it is actually safer to have a more powerful motorcycle rather than his 125 cc bike that looks like a real motorcycle and sounds like a real motorcycle and smells like a real motorcycle and tastes like a real motorcycle but only goes 100 km/hour max, making the crazy French drivers think that he can actually accelerate and get out of danger (ie them giving him all of 10 cm clearance as they pass him on a curve) when he can't.
So anyway.

Two things, that took an unbelievably long time (apartment, almost three years, motorcycle license a year and a half) finished.
Sometimes I wonder what we are going to do with our weekends (especially now that all our friends are busy changing diapers) but then I remember:

Not finished: my law course and Alain's 2nd doctoral thesis
Well, not quite another PhD (what is he doing, collecting them?!) but pretty close- it is for him to have his own students, and, oh yeah, Pepe's constant questioning of when are we going to join the ranks of exhausted parenthood. Like we don't already have enough to do? We have a year reprieve at least (in his mind), that is one plus I guess. Back to my books of Patent Case Law, which would be dull in any language, but in French I want to pull my teeth out just to pass the time.
See you in July!