Modern Vespa

Haarlem

Parting shot: A rose in not Spanish since 1648 Haarlem.

From airport taxi...

Tdrake

Excellent photo series. I really enjoyed the pics.
The small blue Fiat 500 is the identical vehicle and
color I bought new in Naples Italy in 1972 for
US $850. Of course, that was when Moby Dick was
a Minnow.

I drove that car from Morocco to the UK, from Paris to
Vienna. Thanks for the super background views.

Bob Copeland

Aaaand home in time for a short evening ride....

I was waiting until I had a keyboard to reply to this, and then, of course, completely forgot, but that sounds like an amazing trip. That was sorta the way I used to travel in my younger days, but my wife has really spoiled me, and I'll admit I miss the more adventurous days -- our trips unfold very much within the tourist bubble, I'm afraid.

My dad and my stepmother did a similar trip to yours, maybe in 75 (?), in a Deux Chevaux they bought for $500 in England...wind up driving behind the Iron Curtain a bit and all over.... I'd forgotten all about those stories until you brought up the Fiat, so thanks for bringing up those memories!

tdrake,

I was in the USN assigned ashore on a NATO Base in
Bagnoli (Suburb of Naples) Italy. The base was called
AFSOUTH Allied Forces Southern Italy.

When I first got in country, I bought a Ducati 350 Scrambler.
Great Bike to get around on. Even though the weather was
great in Naples (Like San Diego California), it would rain and
be cold in the Winter. I needed a car. I bought the local
car. The Italians referred to the Fiat 500 as the "Mickey Mouse"
car.

I was on staff duty. We had a lot of time off when the Admiral
was away attending conferences or back in the USA. I also
stayed in Europe for 1 year after finish my naval service.
I loved that sun roofed rag topped Fiat. Low budget travel
back then 1970-1974. Heck, I would sleep in the car on
weekends in Rome.

I also was fortunate to have some fellow motorcycle riders
that I worked with. We spent every free time off riding up
and down the boot of Italia. Our favorite ride was, take
the over nigh ferry from Naples to Palermo Sicily, then ride
back, crossing to the mainland at Messina. Many good
adventures and experiences. At the time, I do remember
knowing how lucky I was.

Enough - Sorry to blather so much.

Bob Copeland

Creature of habit: back in Paris, so le deluge begins...





Last edited by tdrake on Thu Jun 01, 2017 12:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

And once again just using my iPhone, so new post for each pic...

Rouge...

Azul

They do love the tripods here!

As Italian as it gets....

Ok, that's probably enough for the first three hours in town

Oh, wait, one more...





Last edited by tdrake on Fri Jun 09, 2017 4:16 am; edited 1 time in total

tdrake,

You always have great photos. You must have taken that
35mm Single Reflex camera class in school. You Sir,
get up on your subject, and are rarely back lit.

Good Form,

Bob Copeland
Frost Bite Falls MN

Thanks Bob! My foreign shots are composed of three important artistic elements kept in careful balance:

1) feeling like an idiot when the locals wonder what the hell i'm up to

2) doing it anyway

3) seeing just how long I can stop before my wife turns around to realize what I'm doing.

Anyway, turns out the Marais, where we wandered the first night, was the motherload, while the next two days in posher hoods are a relative wash. Sigh. Not one single P-series in dozens of hard trod miles (and never did get in a single shot in England...). Still...

1

Rouge, encore.





Last edited by tdrake on Sat Jun 03, 2017 10:40 am; edited 2 times in total

P1

Et P2

Honda shop in Molotov-tossing distance of some big Arc-thing (a dozen ptw shops here btw and yes I browsed them all!)...gotta admit that I thought these X-ADV scoots were a cool concept but...well, in person, among all the pretty bike, uh...looked pretty lame imho.

Modeling my sooper stylin', way French, wax, riding jacket in our micro flat (and pretending I'm not running a fever...sigh...). Looked for something like this last year at a dozen scooter shops, concluded Parisians don't wear protection, and then, this year, suddenly realized non non: they have dedicated gear shops!

So, now, when I get back to Idaho, the farmers will all be, like, "look at that stylish old idiot on the Vespa, photographing my wheat fields-- his jacket appears to be Parisian. Hand me my varmint rifle."

And my life will be complete.





Last edited by tdrake on Fri Jun 09, 2017 4:20 am; edited 1 time in total

Welp, I spent most of Sunday sleeping-off what I fear is strep-throat but my awesome wife stepped up on her walk about, with this beauty...

Shiny along the Seine...

Old dude ogling Beverly...

Les Halles -- just gotta love the side stand attitude....

View out our building door, redux...coincidentally same building as last summer. Paris is certainly a scooter-geek's Mecca.

In between hail and hard rain and my wife and I both sleeping off fevers, it was a beautiful day...

Lambretta!

Yup

My work here is done.

Rouge

Sprint

More Lambretta

Intake

Generations

Can't stop...

Loving the Vespa porn.

I will be out on the lash tomorrow evening in Paris so will check these honeys out in person.

Nice! I never thought I'd like this town but have really come to love it.

Some parting shots....