Walking, walking, walking......

The boys are tired of walking....they look at us with disgust if we even suggest going for a walk in the evening or on the weekend!  Unless we have a specific destination in mind, and bribe them with the offer of a fresh baguette or pain au chocolat, there is no convincing them!!!  We do not have a vehicle here in Aix, and really don't need one.  It seems everything that we could need is within a 25 minute walk.
The boys are slowly adjusting, but I don't really blame them--they walk just about 3 km a day to and from school!  The trip is 663 meters from our door to the school doors.  They do the trip 4 times a day!  It is no wonder I can't keep fruit and bread in the house!  They are going through a ridiculous amount of both these items.
So, the boys go 4 times a day, which means I go 8 times.  Around 5.5 km for me, without walking anywhere else!  The grocery store is about a 2 km round trip.  Into the town centre is about 1 - 1.5 km.  So, needless to say, lots of walking!  It is not surprising that both Todd and I have lost a couple pounds since being here.  You don't see a lot of overweight people here, and walking is probably the reason why!  We do still eat all the cheeses, and drink the wine, and occasionally indulge in a sweet pastry!
Not sure if I had mentioned before, but we have the main floor of a 2 storey house.  We have met the neighbours upstairs, a sweet older couple.  The gentleman is always tinkering on something in the garage or watering/tending the garden.  On Saturday, he asked the boys to come out and help trim the lavender plants.  He gave them each a small basket, which they gathered the lavender in.  He told them to place it in their windows to keep the bugs away!

 
Here is a dish I recently made!  Lots of fresh vegetables, some herbs de provence, garlic, shallots, and some  beef.  Turned out really good, other than Jacob wouldn't touch it!

The boys have been entertaining themselves by building forts.....they have been missing their selection of toys they had back home.  As of right now, all we have is some Lego, a few puzzle books, and some Toy Story figurines.  Todd just brought back their scooters, so they have been using those in the garage as well!