Today's Adventure

It started out as a simple bike ride.

We parked our car on the road outside of Eygalieres and then rode to Aureilles and back.  It was as beautiful as ever.  Val had promised me a crepe au chocolat after the ride and I was looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, when we got back to our car we noticed glass on the ground.  The little window on the passenger side had been shattered and someone had gotten into our car.  

They stole our $15 cooler but missed Val’s purse.  Real criminal masterminds, these.

  

We called the insurance company, who directed us to the local police to file a report.  It turns out that Eygalieres is too small to have its own police department so we headed to St. Remy.

The cop who helped us was a real comedian.  When we told him our car had been broken into he asked if anything had been stolen.

“Nothing important, just a cooler,” said Val.

“They didn’t get the sandwiches, did they?” he asked, looking alarmed.

“No,” I said, “we’d already eaten them.”

“Thank goodness!”

He then took the car’s paperwork and Val’s ID and started filling out a long form on his computer. 

While he was doing that, his colleague came in to get the car key so he could check out the crime scene.  He had his crime kit, latex gloves, the whole bit.  Kind of CSI-St.Remy. 

The first cop was just about done with the form when his colleague returned.  “I have examined the crime scene,” he said, “and have determined that your car’s window has been broken.”

Wow, these guys are good!

When the form was done, the cop signed and stamped it in a bunch of places and gave it to Val to sign.  But I had noticed one little error – in the box for Marital Status he had filled in Célibataire (Single).

“Excuse me,” I said, “but my wife is married.”

“Oh!  Sorry!  My mistake,” said the cop.

“In fact,” I continued, “next week will be our 25^th wedding anniversary.”

I noticed Val looking a little disgruntled.  “Well,” she said, “I was actually looking forward to being single again.  25 years is a long time.”

Ha ha!  She’s such a kidder!  I think.

We finally got the paperwork done, shook hands all around and headed home.  As we left I remembered that we’d been here once before, when someone had broken into our car and stolen a melon.  It was about ten years ago.

A real crime wave.

KVS