Hello from sunny Provence!

Well we finally made it to the Provence. Left a day later than planned, but that turned out fine because it meant that we had plenty of time to do the things that are normally last minute and our departure was relatively relaxed.

S's knee has healed up nicely. We took the stitches out right here on the campground yesterday: just propped his leg up on the table amongst the breakfast dishes and cut them out with the a pair of kitchen shears. Now there's a vacation memory we'll never forget! :-)

Took a tour of an old coal mine in Alès yesterday. It was fascinating, and the kids were really impressed by the horrendous conditions under which the miners (and their families) had to work over the years. This provided yet another convincing opportunity to remind them why it's so important to get a good education.

S has now had a year of French in school, so it's been a treat for him to be able to interact with kids here on the playground and try out his vocabulary. It's taken him a lot more effort to learn than he'd expected, so it's nice for him to be able to have fun with it here and see that his lessons, however dry, really are useful.

S and B have spent the past couple of days working through a French Donald Duck comic book; I'm wrestling with a Russian health magazine and M is reading a German camping magazine. We're all leaning waaaaaaay out of our comfort zone, but that's a good thing to do while stretched out in lawn chairs in the shade with a cool drink and a happy, lazy dog! :-)