Jamais ma grand-mère ne se séparait de moi sans me donner quelque chose, un bonbon, une pièce de monnaie, un fruit, une cuillerée de son repas, une gorgée de son thé, un bout de son pain.

You make all your mistakes with your own children so by the time your grandchildren arrive, you know how to get it right. Plus, once you turn fifty, you kind of stop giving a shit what others think.

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby’s grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida.

Over the stove, we share personal family history. Where did your grandparents come from? What did your grandparents cook?

It was very much a family thing. There were a lot of children on the trip, a lot with grandparents, a lot with parents, some with great-grandparents.

This was typical of Gran. She always found her granddaughter too thin. That gave her an excuse to pile up the food on her plate and to treat her to homemade sweets almost every day too. Not that Sofia minded of course.