OK, so I am projecting my feelings on Emily who was actually thinking about how boring it was to have a camera pointed at her when we were supposed to be playing hide and seek.
Still, it is hard for me not to see my own sadness in her expression knowing that our four-week trip to Paris means that we won't see her again for almost six weeks.
I explained to Em that we were off to Paris in a couple of days and that we wouldn't see her for a while. The news that Grandmommy and Grandpa were going to go bye-bye was hardly earth shattering to her. After all, we do it at the end of every visit. Her shrug seemed to say: What's the big deal?
For me it is a big deal. But it is also a choice I make.
Balancing the loss of experiencing Em's lightening-speed development on a weekly basis is the opportunity to renew relationships with friends and with the city we love. We can't wait to see our wonderful neighbors, the Boutabas, especially Léane who just turned 5. We are looking forward to catching up with the hectic lives of Marie and Gérard and Rachid and Ouiam (parents of two and a half month old Rhita), touching base with George and Nadine, and spending a weekend with Klaus and Marlene in Nuremberg. I will be taking lots of pictures and hoping to add to my growing portfolio of photographs under the Paris Insolite theme. This will be our first chance to see the newly-opened Musée de l'Orangerie and the primitive art museum, the Musée du Quai Branley. Then there are the gardens (especially our beloved Jardin des Plantes), cultural events (including Les Journees du Patrimoines), transient exhibits (photographs of Marilyn Monroe from a photo shoot for Vogue magazine), the restaurants and cafés, the walking, the exploration of new areas of the endlessly fascinating city. Already four weeks seems too short.
I shall miss Miss Em, her strong will, her physical adventurousness, her mischievousness, her innocence and her amazing sweetness. I can't wait to see how much she will change in our absence. But right now, Paris calls and I am answering.
