Sweet

The giant mechanical departures board is one of glories of the Gare du Nord and gives us a lovely focal point (and an interesting angle) for the penultimate scene of the film. In this shot you can see departures to Cambrai (where, as every schoolboy knows, tanks made their debut) and Laon. I’ve played cricket in Laon (I know, very ‘Netherland’). It’s a long story: we thought we would be playing and staying in Paris, so the Hotel du Commerce in Laon was a bit underwhelming. I’m sure it’s a great place.

Paul is worried about the train scene but relaxed about the station. I am the other way round. I cling to our photocopied permission and show it to everyone and anyone. In fact everyone is as relaxed as you can be in a station at rush hour (even the lady whose tea and coffee concession we camp around). To keep her sweet I buy teas; to keep everyone else sweet I put sugar in them. But it’s that Lipton yellow label stuff that comes pre-sweetened. The station is now buzzing - and so are we.

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