In my building there are still toilets on each landing, though all of us have inside loos, apart from the concierge, who simply doesn't seem to want one. Nowadays, she prefers to be called a gardienne, but her dog does most of that. Many buildings put up at the turn of the 19th century in Parisian arrondissements outside the inmost four on the snail pattern still have the lavatories on the stairway, to answer a question from Jill in London, who had special reason for checking. They've been replaced by lifts less often than you might imagine: it's expensive, especially for landlords who are often absentees. My own is rare, living nearby and with a good fruit and veg business downstairs. Before Jill comes over to complete her architectural study, she can find "ordinary pictures" of Paris buildings simply by looking in a phone book. Somebody went round one afternoon taking pictures of the lot. No mean feat. There are more than two million such pictures from eight cities here. So it says, I've not counted.
zzz
American visitors are in town in as large numbers as they were this time last year, going by the many I overhear in the Métro, while some of the routine travel announcements are being made in English again, which means the authorities think winter's over. I've been sent more anti-French jokes and quotes, but not many. The latest (thanks, Catherine) were of the kind:
- How many Frenchmen does it take to change a light bulb? One. He holds the bulb and all of Europe revolves around him.
- "The last time the French asked for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag." -- David Letterman. Who's he? I didn't know either, till tonight (attention: pop-ups. I even got a nasty little weather watcher which downloaded itself and launched Virex but didn't make it sneeze). Have I been missing another indispensable element of US TV culture for all these years?
- "I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me." -- General George S. Patton.
Nothing, sadly, new! American acquaintances may be keeping the best to themselves.
zzz
A recent change both on and under the city streets is a noticeable increase in smiles. People look less burdened than they did last week. In an over-analytical way, I suggested this might be because now we all know pretty much when something horrible is going to take place, it's slightly less ghastly than being sure it will happen but having to wait while the politicians go through the motions. As if once the inevitable has arrived, it becomes acceptable. A Scots colleague dismissed this as nonsense, saying that probably many people don't give a damn and Iraq remains a long way away for most. The touch of bonheur is more to do with "imminent spring and the hormones, my lad," he countered. Maybe. In one sense, a propaganda war has already been won by Washington. You meet fewer people now who will admit they ever thought disarming Saddam was the issue. 'Regime change' was what it was always about, right from the start, they remember. And when you ask them when "the start" was, the date goes further back every time.
9:19:58 PM link 
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