Matthew: “Mom, you know what I hate about France?”

Julie: “What, honey?”

Matthew: “Nothing.”

That’s what Dad loves to hear. That photo above is my son Lucas, 8, with his new friend Leon, the son of old Franco-Dutch friends of Julie’s and mine. Just two little boys scampering down the street having a blast together. I can’t even tell you how satisfied that makes me, and how happy I am to see my children fall in love with France and the people they’re meeting here.

Leon’s dad and I are taking the boys to Normandy, to the D-Day beaches, on Thursday. And then my children will know something else about the bonds between this great country and their own.