Spring Has Sprung

You know it's spring when:

• Every other person you see walking down the street in front of the Jardin de Luxembourg has either a bunch of daffodils, a silver bucket full of daffodils, or a daffodil in their buttonhole. In other words, daffodils.

• The cafes and restaurants finally take down the plastic sidings of the patios and open their doors and windows to the outside, making the whole thing into a terrace.

• You have a sudden desire to buy an ice cream cone and eat it while humming and lazily strolling down the street.
  
  
• The bakeries and chocolate shops have bell shapes in the window. Did you know that the French custom for Easter is not a bunny who leaves goodies in baskets, but the anthropomorphized (no lie) BELLS OF ROME which fly through the sky and leave chocolates for lucky little non praticing Catholic children? It could be cute, but, um, it's just sort of weird instead.
  
  
• The sky is no longer grey.
  
  
• You go to a discount store and buy pretty things you don't need, like coasters and decorative plates.
  
  
• Some people are actually smiling for no apparent reason.
  

• The "Grands Magasins" such as Galeries Lafayette and Bon Marche put up ads announcing the season is here, showing girls on bicycles with lots of unstockinged legs exposed to the wind.
  

• The ice skating rink in front of the Hotel de Ville has been dismantled, and is replaced by hundreds of roller skaters and skateboarders.
  
  
• You suddenly feel a desire to open the windows and clean your whole apartment on a Sunday morning when you like neither Sundays, mornings nor cleaning.

Oui! Spring is here!