Another picnic in the Jardin de Luxembourg, this time to meet Nell’s friends (from left to right, Robin Lisker from England, Robin ? from Chicago, and Sarah Keane from Ireland). What a great group of friends Nell has gathered, as she always does. She has had a wonderful year in France, crossing all sorts of shadow lines. (Dad used to use this metaphor from the Conrad book of the same name to describe those moments of growth when you discover you can make a phone call in French and get the gas turned on). I’m not sure how academically useful it has been, but as a year of growth it has been worth it, not to mentioned the ability to write bullshit in French.