Spring merged into summer and Paris was gay. The Tuileries Gardens were gay, the gardens of the Luxembourg Palace were gay, the Bois was the happy hunting ground of eager young things and those who loved to ride. It created an illusion of space and rural delights in the midst of more sophisticated pleasures.And among the more sophisticated pleasures were the shops—perennially gay, but a sore temptation to tourists during the summer months—the theaters, nightclubs, the opera and the races.Valentine found, once the first of May was past and Paris celebrated by filling its flower-sellers’ baskets with bunches of lilies of the valley, and the whole atmosphere swam with the perfume of these delicate harbingers of perfect days in store, that she got to know the Paris calendar fairly well. In June there were fetes and gala performances at the opera, in July more fetes and a big race at Saint Cloud; in August fashionable Parisians left the capital behind for the beaches of the south and even farther afield; and in October they drifted back in earnest and the winter season began.
