ouch.

My feet are covered in blisters.

I'm sure that there is a strategy for easing yourself into summer shoes, for walking in sandals without tearing all of the skin off  of your feet. Over the past ten years in which I pick my shoes out for myself, I haven't discovered it.

I don't often think about what the day will look like from my feet's point of view. I just throw them on if they match my shirt and head out the door. Yesterday, that meant my summer sandals–still holding strong after three years, but with completely flat, plastic bottoms–would be walking me around town for miles.

Joe & I decided to take advantage of a sunny Saturday to explore a new part of town, walking North from our apartment instead of into town, like we always do. Going North means we actually leave Nancy & enter the cluster of tiny towns & urban sprawl that surround it. There is more asphalt, more traffic, more graffiti & more huge shopping centers.

We were able to walk along the canal for most of the trip, surrounding ourselves with trees & ducks & families enjoying the sunshine instead of the winding town roads & cracking asphalt. I could feel my arms burning a bit & was excited that my tan would be a bit deeper before we head down to Montpellier.

Our journey did have a purpose other than walking the canal, but that turned out to be my favorite part. After that, we were weaving through industrial complexes & parking lots to reach the "Super U", the closest thing to a Wal*Mart that I've ever seen in France. My friend told me that she'd found a big bottle of gin there for seven euros. Reason enough to check it out, since a gin & tonic at a café is seven euros.

We didn't want to just grab gin & run, so we bounced around the aisles for a bit, admiring the large organic sections that we want to get back to, the selection of flour, the Mexican food (!!). We're definitely making another trip back there before a friend comes to visit from the States, stocking up so that our week of food experimentation is less expensive.

So we got G&T supplies & a big thing of juice & headed home, back along the canal. While Joe stopped into the Asian market to get coconut milk for dinner, I pressed on. Today was my designated Megan Goes into the World on Her Own day. I was shopping, & I was going to love being by myself. I have to force myself to do things like this on occasion, & I am starting to enjoy it.

One of my favorite French people, Montaigne, the father of memoir, enjoyed the Latin phrase "in solis sis tibi turba locis." In solitude, be company to yourself. It's not what he meant really–going shopping alone & thus being surrounded by loads of commercialism & other people–but I do try to use the time to think about what I really want from life, what I'm doing, if I'm satisfied.

I also used the time to realize that I don't need another pair of jeans or sunglasses or shoes. Victory. I just got the essentials that I was looking for. Plus a REALLY pink lipstick. It's getting warm; I had to do something to celebrate (other than buy gin).

So I slowed down in town & explored a lot of shops that I'd never seen before, on streets I never turn onto. I let myself have a few hours before considering going home. In fact, I didn't think about going home until I realized that I was limping around, trying to walk only on the outside of my feet.

It was a long walk back. The space between where my toes stop and my arch begins was swelling at an alarming pace. I was sure that there was no skin left on my heels. My pinkie toe was lying on its side, defeated & trapped under the strap of my sandal. I spent the rest of the day taking as few steps as possible.

I washed my feet three times & still haven't gotten all the black off of the heels. I'm not good at sandals. Maybe I do need new shoes after all... with arch support & more than a 1/4-inch piece of plastic between me & the sidewalk. Maybe I just need to give my feet time to thaw after a long winter trapped in hosiery & socks. I've been walking around with naked legs again, in skirts with–GASP–no tights. The air felt odd after so much time locked away. I'm sure it's similar for the poor little feet.

Today, it's socks & small boots even though the temperature will be in the 70s (or 22C, which sounds not warm at all). At least I have my new shorts to keep my legs cool & little pads to keep my steps soft.

Advice for not destroying your feet with summer shoes?

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