If you asked me a year and a half ago if the #7 item on a list of 10 things I love most about a place would be 'walking', I would say you were crazy! I walked only when necessary. Even though Matthew and I lived in a neighborhood that was right across the street from a Bi-Lo, the thought never crossed my mind to actually walk there. How would I carry my week's worth of groceries? All of the American-sized products? The case of Mountain Dew for Matthew? The buy 1 get 2 free jumbo jars of Duke's mayonaise (because I had a Paula Dean recipe to make after all!)? Get a rolling cart? Absurd!
Fast forward to my current life in France. Every week, at least twice a week, I get out my little pull-along rolling cart and head out to the grocery store. This week, as snow flurries swirl around in the air, it is probably not the best time to be talking about how much I enjoy walking to the grocery store. But it is true! There is nothing better on one of those perfect Spring or Fall days to set out to grocery shop, and not have to get into a car to do it!
It is not just the grocery store that I enjoy walking to in France. When Matthew and I go to friends' houses or out to dinner in the downtown area, we always walk. It is so refreshing after a big French dinner to have a twenty minute walk home. Quite healthy as well. The first few months after living here, I had already dropped over 15 pounds...and this was while still enjoying the bread, cheese, and wine (see #9!).
The topic of how French women stay so thin has many a time been the topic of conversation between American women here. With a mouth-watering boulangerie and patisserie on every corner, it astounds us that these women stay so slender (and might I add, this is after having 3 or 4 or even 5 children!). Our number one reason for this is all of the walking they do.
A little over 2 years ago I was in a car accident, after which I was in a wheel chair for 3 months, with a broken ankle and not able to walk. When we first moved here, I still walked with quite a noticeable limp. Matthew and I both agree that moving to France was probably the best physical therapy I could have asked for. I think this is why, even on these blustery cold days, that I truly appreciate (and even enjoy) the ability to walk and walk and walk...
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