La Famille

Tom and I headed over to Levallois early this morning, as Jeanne had an appointment and we got to take care of Juliet! We took her to a cafe where we had tea and coffee, and she had a bottle of formula. The picture on this page was taken by the man we think was probably the owner of the cafe. When Juliet got a little fussy after her bottle, we strolled her on the street until Jeanne came. It was another beautiful, sunny day, and even though it's still very cold, it seemed warmer with the sun.

We met Jean for lunch, then the five of us went to the Rodin Museum for an exhibit about Matisse and Rodin. (Juliet is getting to be quite the art critic; she liked the Matisse paintings but didn't care too much about any of the sculptures...) I didn't know Matisse was a sculptor in addition to drawing and painting. The exhibit was interesting but extremely crowded. We couldn't wait to get outside and stroll around the grounds looking at Rodin's beautiful sculptures. The late afternoon sun was still warm. We walked quite a ways to return a baby gift, but got some darling clothes for our trouble. Then we headed back to get ready for the family dinner.

The Paris part of the family got together for dinner: Stephane and Marie and kids, cousin Caroline, Stephane's mother and Jeanne's parents all joined us, and we had a wonderful evening. I find I am more able to understand the conversation, and Marie, Stephane and Caroline all speak English so Tom is included more, also. We feel like we're part of this wonderful family! It was the day after Thomas' 10th birthday, so we sang to him, and he got his big present, a Mac laptop. He was thrilled; he has really grown up over the past few years. He looks like a young man now, not a little boy. And Lena, 8, is adorable and sweet, too. I hope Juliet doesn't grow up so quickly!

Tomorrow we will have more family time, as we're going with Jean, Thomas and Lena to the Eiffel Tower for a special tour. Then perhaps on to the Louvre if we have the energy. A demain! (Until tomorrow...)