Saying Goodbye

Have you heard the saying, "My future's so bright, I have to wear shades!"? That's our girl Juliet! Lots of approving glances for the sunglasses, purchased on our shopping trip today. Mom Jeanne was still sick today, so Matt, Juliet and I went shopping, partly because we "needed a few things" and partly to give Jeanne a chance to rest and get better.

The three of us took the metro in to Paris, to the children's shop Aubert. We went with a shopping list, but of course we managed to find several things we hadn't realized we needed before. We found a net bag to hang in the bathtub, to hold our bath toys; a picture album for pictures of our favorite people (actually, relatives) and it's plastic and can be chewed on; a charming little butterfly excellent for teething; and the sunglasses. After all that exhausting shopping, we had to stop for lunch, to keep up our strength! Matt had a club sandwich and fries, I had a salad with warm goat cheese (my favorite), and Juliet had a bottle of formula (her favorite). Juliet kept reaching for her Dad's club sandwich, though; she looks like she's ready to start eating grownup food. What fun that will be!

On our way to the big department stores, Printemps and Galleries Lafayette, we noticed a lot of people eating ice cream. We decided we better have some ourselves, since we had looked in vain for ice cream yesterday! A stop at Haagen Dazs fortified us for the rest of our shopping trip. French Mother's Day is next Sunday, so we had our work cut out for us. I can't reveal here whether or not we were successful, as someone's mother reads this blog. But I can tell you we had fun looking!

Once again, Juliet was so good. She really is easy to take along, and so very interested in everything that's going on around her. It was so hot today, and most French stores aren't air conditioned because they don't need to be; it's usually temperate. By the time we got home at 6:00, we were all three exhausted and sweaty. Juliet got her bath early, then Matt fixed dinner while Jeanne fed Juliet. Both our girls went to bed early. Tom called around 10:00, just as Matt was going to bed. Tom is going to be able to pick me up at the airport in Chicago tomorrow. It will be good to see him again.

I hate saying goodbye to the Paris Mellins, as we call them, but it doesn't seem so bad this time, because I'll be coming back in August to care for Juliet while her day care center is closed. So I'll just say, "A la prochain", until the next time. I love you all and I'll be back before you know it.