The Vespa

Geoff and I did yoga on the patio today (I caught this photo of Geoff afterwards so you could see the view). And it was a good thing because we set off to buy a Vespa afterwards...and we needed the "calming energy that flows from the universe".

We thought it would be a quick trip to town. We caught the bus right on schedule, walked to the scooter dealer, and realized...it was just before noon. Scooter dealers, insurance agencies, and any other store to keep us busy was closed for lunch...until 2:30 or 3:00 (at their pleasure). While this was hugely inconvenient for us, I admire the attitude that things (work, shopping, life...) can wait for people to take a break during the day. Life is for enjoying, too, right? We stopped in a cafe for a panini (and to kill a few hours!) The girls were admiring the beautiful pastries pointing out every one they would love to have when Adele, looking at a green lump of pastry, said, "I've always wanted to eat playdough, and now is the time."

So we let her have a try. It was a lot of sugar and figs. She gave it a big bite and...

(Geoff took a bite and spit it into his napkin...) While walking around we passed this little car that was so full of character I asked the entering owner if we could get a picture...check this little modified Fiat out!

It took us about 3 hours to buy the darn Vespa. They had to charge the battery and order a few addditional things, the sales guy left for awhile to pick up his daughter from school, the lady who does the final payment went shopping for food (what was she doing during lunch!?) and the insurance place was a 10 minute walk (and we did it twice), plus you know how fast it is to get insurance. But we got it! And now we can make a quick trip to the market when we run out of something, and only one of us has to go on boring errands instead of dragging three kids along, making every outing an all-day affair! This was the last big errand to set up life here (yeah!!) And to top it all off, we'll get most of our money back when we sell the Vespa next year because half of Menton drives a scooter!

(Helmets are cool. Helmets are cool. Helmets are cool.)