I’m sure it’s not politic to say so but in my opinion, some of the smaller villages around Paris can be dreary little places in mid-winter, all grey stone, gates and shutters closed tight, everything silent except on market day. But in spring and summer, when those flower boxes and rose bushes get going, they really are something else. Well maybe not enough to charm me into small-town life but awfully darn sweet all the same.

Yesterday, my hiking group headed south of town to the department of the Yvelines for a long walk through the fields and forest between Coignières and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. The loveliest stretch was along a small canal in the village of Chevreuse known as thepromenade des petit ponts. In another age, the properties bordering the canal were all tanneries. But that’s all a thing of the past and the only thing we encountered on this stretch was a group of elderly ladies sketching. They couldn’t have picked a better spot.