Welcome [but not quite] back

As we met Lionel's Parisian family again, 5 long years after we saw them last, I sadly realized how incredibly rusty my French is. I struggled with how to say even basic things, because even though I had in my head 90% of what I wanted to say, I was missing key words. I was also lacking the confidence that you gain only when you speak something fluently, which was obviously highly frustrating. Shame on me for not practicing regularly, and especially for not doing so in preparation for this trip.