Paris bulletin 1 2008

 I knew even before I opened the shutters this morning that 'spring is in the air' in Paris. So no surprise when I stepped out onto the pavement to find a glorious sunlit
day, a light wind from the west and people pulling off scarves and undoing coat buttons as they walked. I was on my way to the mercerie (haberdashery) shop attached to the marché St Pierre, one of the huge, old-fashioned cloth emporia that surround the square at the foot of the steps up to the Sacré Coeur.

They were making a film outside the église St Bernard and a genial-looking chap was sitting at the controls of one of those green water trucks which trundle round cleaning up the streets of Paris. He was sending fountains of spray into the air to simulate a rain shower. All along rue de Pierre l'hermite trucks for this shoot were parked and double-parked. You have to marvel at the quantity of vehicles and gear required to make a movie, even quite a small one. But I suppose that helps the buzz and the excitement, which a film set can still engender in the public at large. Passing the square Leon I see that the chess tables are full of men and the swings and climbing frames have more than their fair share of little boys hanging upside down and using these pieces of equipment for all sorts of ploys the city fathers never dreamt of. It's Wednesday and most kids aren't at school. Which is why of course the local children's centre is also full to busting with vigorous young life which senses the sap rising, like the rest of the natural world.

The squares hereabouts are overrun with kids and adults at almost every season of the year. They remind me very much of the play parks and gardens roundabout Shields Road in Glasgow: used to the nth from dawn till dusk, providing a neighbourly space for mums and grannies to gather and chat while keeping an eye on the wains (their men are usually elsewhere: a few at the chess tables, lots on street corners or in gossipy huddles in the cafes). Grassed areas at the square are out of bounds from 15 October to 15 April. Just as well as they would be reduced to a mud bath if they didn't get a chance to recover and dig in for the summer onslaught.

This is a far cry from yesterday's outing - to the Sécurité Sociale, to queue along with dozens of young women with buggies and babies, and men with sticks and crutches, clearly in various states of discomfort and tiredness. The man next to me fell asleep as soon as he sat down. He'd plenty of time to catch up on sleep. When I left 2 hours later he was still slumped and snoring. The waiting was bad for me but ten times worse for the kids, several of whom got their bottoms slapped by their mums, including some very small babies. The noise of children crying ebbed and flowed constantly. Let's hope there are fewer tears today in the sunshine and warmth.