I’m somewhere warm now, much warmer in every aspect than I could ever have imagined. I observe how Camille interacts with the stall owners, who all seem to know her by name. She introduces me to a select few, but mostly it feels like I’ve stepped into a postcard of times gone by because even though farmers’ markets are all the rage these days, there’s an air of authenticity to this place that makes me believe it has always been here exactly like this.

Camille has invited her best friends Sylvie and Sébastien to brunch as well and they too seem elated to finally meet me. I’ve put myself in charge of drink pouring and the mimosas are very much appreciated by everyone at the table, not that, unlike me, anyone looked in much need of something to help them relax.

“Dad would have a fit if he saw you add orange juice to champagne,” Ben says. “He’d call it sacrilege.” Ben lifts his glass and holds it up to me.

“But your father is not here and this way we can drink more before Sébastien becomes too lyrical and Mathieu starts going on about the stock market as if it was the true love of his life instead of my daughter,” Camille says.

Everybody laughs and I laugh along, grateful that they’ve chosen English as their primary language for the day, which Sylvie seems to have the most difficulty with. But she tries, and for that alone I could kiss her. The fact that the conversation is being conducted in English for my sake, makes me want to keep it going as fluently as possible, to the point that I soon find myself asking Flo’s husband questions about his job as though I’m interviewing him for television.

“Ideally, we’d move to London. We talked about it,” he confides in me. “But now with Brexit all the rules have changed. It’s actually better to stay in Paris.” He heaves a small sigh and sips from his red wine—he’s the only man who considered a champagne cocktail too girly. “Besides, I could never actually tear Flo and now Emma away from Camille.” He leans over in order to speak more quietly. “Those two months Camille spent in Australia upset Flo to such a degree I was starting to worry.”

“Did I hear my name?” Flo elbows Mathieu in the arm. “Are you gossiping about me.” She looks at me. “He’d better only be saying good things about me.” She appears much more relaxed than when I first met her earlier this week.

“I was just warning Zoya about how you and your mother are joined at the hip. She has a right to know these things.” He grins at his wife.