Summer sunshine may bring holidays out of town but for many the hot days of summer are spent here, in Oxford.

Having just passed through Paris on my way home from the mountains, I saw with admiration how imaginatively this reality was met. Staying at home can still be a holiday. Work can become play after office hours.

Most facilities were free or available for only a modest charge. Of course, this only works with the mutual respect and appreciation of everyone using the facilities: but what an opportunity to offer.

The wide boulevards and banks of the Seine have become a holiday zone. There is sand, deckchairs and a mobile library to allow you to dip into a best seller in your lunch hour.

A temporary garden of greenery had been created on floating pontoons, open to all.

The elderly, the retired, friends meeting for lunch, lovers or weary or sad entered, to sit, to talk, or to watch the river taxis and barges navigate the river.

People fished from the edge. Some sat, enjoying the butterflies in the purple buddlias. Some picnicked; others found a sunny spot and dozed.

Board games were laid out ready, and ping pong tables and swing ball games set up for public use. Grandparents, parents, carers, and children sat on railway sleepers, at foldaway tables. They took the time to relax together.

Parks are open to all, to play boules, or exercise on fitness equipment. Many have sandpits and plastic toys for small children.

Bikes are available to hire throughout the city, and much used by visitors and locals alike. What could be more fun for young children? Bikes with stabilisers, mini-bikes, bikes for all sizes. On went a colourful helmet and off they pedalled: down the traffic-free, walled and flat-paved stretch beside the Seine – some areas pedestrianised for summer use only. Hiring bikes is for everyone – not just the athletic, confident or curious.

Too hot? Stand under a series of showers which deliver a light, refreshing spray – enough to moisten but not soak your clothes and play on your face like the softest shower.

Running tracks have been painted onto boulevards for the summer weeks; blackboards placed on walls with chalks to encourage teenage expression – and they did, but noticeably in the summer spirit in which it was granted.

Outside the magnificent Town Hall, basketball and tennis courts had been erected for summer. You could play on demand, for a small sum.

A basket ball game was under way when I arrived. It was played in wheelchairs. Some athletes were disabled; many were not. All were having fun in the sun. Understanding, diversity, leisure and iconic buildings: Paris had it all.

Underneath the Eiffel Tower, actors in masks entertained the crowds.

Some of the ideas could be adopted here in Oxford. Most striking of all is the sense of time together: leisure outside, seasonal for all, within a city context.

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