Jill's last day

Since Jill's last day in Paris was a Sunday, I would not have blamed her one bit if she had gone off and fulfilled some last-minute Paris wishes, but she opted to go to church with us again. I know. I was totally impressed with her dedication.

Eva and Lucas went to Primary together, leaving me free to go to Relief Society for the first time. I definitely got more out of our meetings this time, although poor Jill was left sifting through the French for scraps that she understood. (I tried to give her the gist without being distracting by translating the whole time.)

Max gave his first talk in Sacrament Meeting (on service). I thought he would be really nervous, but he studied and planned it all out on his own and did a great job. Fortunately, they allowed him to give it in English, and the (American) bishop translated for him on the fly.

After church, we came home, ate grilled cheese sandwiches, and read and napped for a bit and then Jill wanted to go to the Jardin du Luxembourg. Surprisingly, the boys didn't want to go, and I bribed Eva into accompanying us by telling her she could feed the ducks.

I always love Luxembourg, but it is fun to see it in the Fall. It looks completely different now from when we came with Michelle & co. just a few weeks ago! The urns were filled with geraniums and begonias then -- now they all have mums and the leaves have changed.

I've never been to Luxembourg on a Sunday before -- and I've also never seen it so crowded before! I guess everyone had the same idea. (This is the shadow of Jill, Eva and I holding hands.)

I always enjoy watching the kids pushing their sailboats around.

Eva had so much fun feeding the ducks, and to our surprise, fish! The water is murky, so I never knew there were fish in there. Apparently fish like to eat bread, too. I think she would have stayed there for hours if our bread hadn't run out.

It was late afternoon, so we got to enjoy that lovely golden light.

Jill wrote postcards while the feeding frenzy was going on.

I used to think it was so strange that people are forbidden to go on the grass in most Parisian parks. Now I'm used to it and love the way it looks. Grass is overrated when you have delightful chairs to sit in and plenty of beautiful things to enjoy.

Eva posed (although somewhat unwillingly) next to this tree trunk to show its scale. Seriously. That has got to be at least a 100 year old tree, right?

The Medici Fountain never gets old for me. I just love its shady, quiet seclusion.

As we left, I spotted these apples on the ground. One end of the garden has a bunch of espaliered fruit trees that I love. There was a ladder nearby, so I think the harvest is underway, but some had already dropped. Is there anything not beautiful about Fall?

We didn't get home until close to 7:00 and I still had to make dinner! Jill was a good sport and packed her suitcase while I cooked. We had a late dinner and watched tv together on our last night. Poor girl, she had to get up at 5:30 and get ready for her 6:30 taxi!

I definitely had pangs of regret as she pulled away for the airport. She was such a great houseguest to have around -- she is so familiar with my family and all of our ways. In fact, I fear I was a very bad host since I really don't consider her to be a guest.

I confessed I was slightly worried that this visit would impact our friendship negatively, since she was privy to so many tantrums, so much whining, a lot of smotherhood, etc. She told me she had been in training for this for years. I honestly didn't know whether to be reassured or terrified by that knowledge...