I was on the way to work this morning when i became submerged by a wave of nostalgia

You know how it is when these things creep up on you - it could be something that you've caught sight of, a snippet of music that wafts by or a voice that resonates somewhere in the subconscious or even a particular smell ....

I remember as a kid, how in the summer we'd regularly have droughts : my parents were fretting over the begonias, the roses and the vegetable plot that'd be turning into a dry and parched wasteland

As long as us kiddies still had enough water for water fights in the back garden, that's all we cared about, nothing else mattered

There were hose pipe bans, stand pipes set up on street corners - taking a baths were 'out' and showers were 'in'

Yeah, bébé, yeah !!

Fast forward to Paris 2008 : there mightn't be a hose pipe ban in operation just now, but people on métro lines 2, 11, 7, 5 and 4 have enthusiastically taken it upon themselves to save the planet by saving water ... and soap ... if you get my drift

If you're in or planning to come to Paris over the next few months or so, please heed my tuppence worth of advice : avoid the métro, hire yourself a bike - unless, of course, you really like being subjected to fifty shades of tangy pornographic smells as you go about your business

;-)