I am here at my sit spot on a cloudy morning. Today is a Monday morning, but it’s busier than usual here at the park because it’s Labor Day in Europe. There are families here with children chasing around ducks. This is the first time I’ve seen ducklings out and about at this park; I’m noticing the change in pace. The weather here is significantly warmer than it has been because we’re heading into May.

I noticed that the flowers I’ve seen in my first few visits to the Square des Batignolles are gone. However, I see new flowers have been planted in their place. I see some purple bell flowers that look like Campanulas. I also see some magenta-colored flowers among them. Although these flowers are nice to look at, I think it would be nice to have some flowers growing consistently at the park instead of being replaced by season.

As well as it being Labor Day today, it’s a day of sharing flowers. There are many stands throughout the city selling the lily of the valley flower to be given to loved ones to celebrate the start of the new, spring month. I got some flowers myself 🙂

In terms of national environmental policy, France has been an active voice for renewable energy and climate change sustainability. France has laid out a plan to ban short-distance domestic flights to encourage the use of more sustainable modes of transportation. Also, there are plans to clean up the Seine River as it’s been too dangerous for people to use due to pollution. Climate change is taken very seriously in France and is a topic of discussion and action at the policy level.