settled in

Our lives are pretty well settled now. Thom walks up the hill to Venasque in the morning, and buys freshly baked bread, croissants, and pain au chocolate in the morning. We have breakfast together, and head to Ria's school together. At home, I work while Thom putters about in the house, washing dishes, doing laundry, reading. After Thom and I share lunch, we get Ria, and spend the afternoon together. Usually around five or six Thom goes running, and just as he gets back a thunderstorm rolls in, bringing lightening and thunder but not much rain. Then dinner, shared stories, and bed. Some days we go to the local market (there is one on Monday in Mazan, the town where Ria's school is, and another on Friday in Carpentras, the main town near here).

Tuesday, though, was a special day. It was Apple's birthday, her 12th (despite the fact that she is Ria's daughter -- in the land of makebelieve, a daughter can be older than her mother). Ria has been planning this since we were in Paris, and had assigned to me and Thom the job of purchasing gifts and making a cake. The kitchen here isn't really set up for baking, and the bakeries here are incredible, so after we picked Ria up from school, we took her to the bakery and let her pick out a chocolate cake. We bought a few small gifts for Apple (things we thought Ria might actually like, too) and wrapped them up in pretty blue paper. Ria set up the party in the salon, and we all ate cake.