Bonjour, mes amis!

**vifferman** · 2nd May 2011, 05:50

C'est vifferm'sieur ici; j'habite en Paris.
Or something....
Yup, here I am, dans un appartment in Rue St Louis en Isle. We've finished the Dutch part of our Yurpeen vacation, Take II (Take I having been scuppered last year by a faulty foofoo valve), and we're now enjoying the sights, sounds and smells (well.... most of them) of Paris, from our island hideaway on Isle Saint Louis, smack dab in the middle of the city. Four more nights and we're off to Provence in our brand new frogmobile, courtesy of Peugeot France.

Oh... here's the bike-relevant bit: bikes in Paris are mostly tres chic, but scroters rule, with superscroters being very common. The superscroterists are mostly mad/drunk/stoned though, and ride like maniacs, at insane speeds, weaving in and out of the traffic. Dunno what the French word for twat is, but most of them are. The kewl thing to do if you're a scroterist is to ride with one leg down. Dunno why.

Most proper bikes have aftermarket exhausts, seem to be immaculately cared for, and I've seen several fairly old but tidy Ducatis, BMWs, Triumphs, and even a very tidy vintage MV Agusta. No pics sorry..

Bye for now - I've important vacationing to do.

**Metastable** · 2nd May 2011, 05:59

Good to hear you are having fun. BTW, if you need a good B&B in Southern France, check out:
http://www.coupdecoeur.co.uk/
Motorcycle friendly Brit couple. The husband use to race 750 2 strokes back in the day.

**Ocean1** · 2nd May 2011, 20:22

Originally Posted by vifferman

Bye for now - I've important vacationing to do.

Enjoy, dude.

You planning on obtaining a boik for a day's trundle up the coast or someting?

**neels** · 2nd May 2011, 20:38

Tres bon!

The scooters in Paris are manic, and motorcyclists are funny the way they wave their right leg to say thanks when you let them pass, pop across the bridge to the really cool underground (and river) metro station by Notre Dame.

And have a glass of Haute Medoc for me while you're there.

**vifferman** · 3rd May 2011, 05:53

Today we caught the metro from St Michel to MontMartre for a mere 1.70 euro each. We wandered around MontMartre, Sacre Couer, and its environs. It ranged from a very seedy area on one side, with many dodgy-looking people and every second shop being a wig shop, to some very attractive and expensive appartments on the other.
Speaking of seedy, the area around Moulin Rouge is mostly sex shops and the like.

We caught another metro to Les Halles, did some window shopping, then walked back to Isle St Louis, bought some more lovely bread and cakes from our local boulangerie, some food for dinner, then back to our cosy appartment for some Leffe (me) and Rose (the vifferbabe).

**vifferman** · 12th May 2011, 07:55

I was cut short by the vifferbabe, who went absolutely nuts at me daring to post on KB while on vacation.

Anyway, Paris was tres bien, and but for the prospect of further adventures, we were rather sorry to leave, having only just begun to feel almost-but-not-quite like bona fide Parisiennes after 5 days.
Getting to La Defense with all our luggage via the metro was a mission, as was humping it to Corbevoie in time to pick up our brand new Peugeot 308.

**MikeL** · 12th May 2011, 14:17

Bonjour Vifferhomme!
Glad to read some (reasonably) positive comments about Paris. Great city. Great country. Great people! [gets ready to dodge flak]. It helps to speak a bit of the lingo. Here are some useful phrases to practise on the locals at the traffic lights:
Salaud! = Great-looking car you've got!
Espèce de sale con! = Let me compliment you on your driving!
Fils de putain! Nice weather today, isn't it!
Let me know how you get on.
Mike

**SPman** · 12th May 2011, 14:34

Originally Posted by neels

Tres bon!

The scooters in Paris are manic, and motorcyclists are funny the way they wave their right leg to say thanks when you let them pass, pop across the bridge to the really cool underground (and river) metro station by Notre Dame.

And have a glass of Haute Medoc for me while you're there.

Would that be Chatre - pronounced Shat! - or maybe that's the one by the Louvre....The scooters are insane - we saw guys (and girls) drinking coffee, smoking, all whilst weaving through the traffic (including one running down a footpath) at hair raising speeds and the drivers just seem to shrug and let them get on with it! Also, they seem to park where they damn well like! No tickets, that I saw, either.

Today we caught the metro from St Michel to MontMartre for a mere 1.70 euro each.

So - did you take the lift, or the stairs?

**sgtp** · 12th May 2011, 15:24

Originally Posted by MikeL

Great people!

thats a funny way to describe a cheese-eating surrender-monkey

**MikeL** · 13th May 2011, 08:18

Originally Posted by sgtp

a cheese-eating surrender-monkey

Yes, of course. How stupid of me. Forget the Louvre, Versailles, Notre Dame, Debussy, Descartes, the TGV, the A380, champagne and the rest of it. Nothing but garlic-smelling cheese-eating surrender monkeys.
Anglo-Saxon smugness about the events of June 1940 comes from the same self-delusion that calls Dunkirk a "victory".
It would be a shame to allow a bit of intelligent thought to spoil a good prejudice.

**Maha** · 13th May 2011, 08:37

Oui mister le' hubba hubba.

**jaffaonajappa** · 13th May 2011, 10:35

Originally Posted by MikeL

Paris. Great city. Great country. Great people! [gets ready to dodge flak].

No point trying to shoot a Troll....

Im sure we all know how great the French are....

**vifferman** · 23rd May 2011, 14:31

Okay... home at 5:30 this morning. Here's a quick summary: a week in the Netherlands: 5 nights on the Isle St Louis; a couple of nights in Epernay (including one where i crashed our two-day-old Peugeot slightlyish....); a night in a chateau in Guebwiller, and a visit to the awesome motor museum in Molsheim (after being told to piss off at the Bugatti one in the other place

); a night in St Julien after a crappy day driving through the French countryside and trying unsuccessfully to get change for a 500-Euro note at every bank in Nimes; 5 nights in Avignon; 5 nights in Diano Marina in Italy, where we experienced our first real rain of the whole trip the very instant we crossed the border from France to Italy, and again at the exact instant we turned up at our lovely hotel, where a Honda NR owned by the hotelier was on display in the foyer!.
Need any further details or pics, just ask.
Don't ask about Suzie the crazy GPS though, or how many u-turns I had to do, or how many times I bounced off the right-hand curb trying to avoid Frenchman who can't keep to their side of the road. Or how many gelatos I ate (about 7, I think), or the numerous bottles of expensive wine we drank (only two - all the rest were less than 3Euro and very very good too...) or how many kilos of fat I added to my weight (about 3...)

**DR650gary** · 23rd May 2011, 18:37

Originally Posted by vifferman

Okay... home at 5:30 this morning. Here's a quick summary: a week in the Netherlands: 5 nights on the Isle St Louis; a couple of nights in Epernay (including one where i crashed our two-day-old Peugeot slightlyish....); a night in a chateau in Guebwiller, and a visit to the awesome motor museum in Molsheim (after being told to piss off at the Bugatti one in the other place

); a night in St Julien after a crappy day driving through the French countryside and trying unsuccessfully to get change for a 500-Euro note at every bank in Nimes; 5 nights in Avignon; 5 nights in Diano Marina in Italy, where we experienced our first real rain of the whole trip the very instant we crossed the border from France to Italy, and again at the exact instant we turned up at our lovely hotel, where a Honda NR owned by the hotelier was on display in the foyer!.
Need any further details or pics, just ask.
Don't ask about Suzie the crazy GPS though, or how many u-turns I had to do, or how many times I bounced off the right-hand curb trying to avoid Frenchman who can't keep to their side of the road. Or how many gelatos I ate (about 7, I think), or the numerous bottles of expensive wine we drank (only two - all the rest were less than 3Euro and very very good too...) or how many kilos of fat I added to my weight (about 3...)

Leaving for that part of the world ourselves in 2 days

Please leave some wine and cheese for us

about the bloody volcano