This photo was taken almost two years ago – during Christmas in Paris. Sophie was still a baby – barely one year old, barely walking, and barely curly.
Chloe was missing some teeth. She still makes silly faces, though.
This photo was taken during our first full day in France – Maxime was at lunch with some former colleagues, and I decided it was high time to introduce the girls to cafe life.
Chloe and Sophie were, of course, the only children in the cafe. The waitress was nice – although she and the bartender kept glancing over to make sure the girls weren’t doing anything they weren’t supposed to be doing. At one point, Sophie was wielding a fork. That made the adults a bit nervous. And Sophie made a mess of those chips.
Chloe then had the opportunity to discover the bathroom – down a set of spiral stairs. It was very tiny, of course, with a light that turned off automatically after a couple of minutes. I always wondered about those lights – who in the hell determined how long it should take the average person to pee? What if the average person needs to do more than pee? Having to relieve oneself in an unlit bathroom is no fun, if you ask me. Anyway, I digress. Chloe was less impressed with the bathroom light than she was with the spiral stairs.
And forget about changing a baby’s diaper in French restrooms – the bathrooms don’t come equipped with a changing table (except if you’re at DisneyLand Paris). They’re barely big enough for an adult, let alone an extra piece of equipment. I recall changing Sophie’s diapers on floors, or while she was in her stroller – even though it was December and freezing cold outside.
Time flies – we don’t yet know when we’re going to return to France, but I hope it will be sometime in the next year or two. Last time, Chloe repeatedly said she felt “squished” because the buildings were relatively small and the streets narrow. I wonder if she’ll feel even more squished the next time around – she’ll be bigger than she was in 2006 – and therefore take up more three-dimensional space…