Late to bed, early to rise . . .

Which is the opposite of how I like to do it.

Maybe it was the chocolate eclair I had at 9:30 last night, but I was not asleep until 00:30 last night. Yes, they use 24 hour time over here to emphasize just how bloody late it is. It could also be that I drink an unbelievable huge quantity of "Coke Light," which is what they call Diet Coke here.

I don't remember much about getting up, because I was still asleep until I finished breakfast.

JJ was off shopping for clothes today, so Beanie and I had what is formally known as a "Daddy Day." We both like these days because it means that all diet considerations are ignored. JJ fed Ella waffles for breakfast before she left, then I took her for pizza for lunch. I had peel the cheese and all toppings off, of course. The waiter was very concerned, but I kept saying c'est bon, c'est bon (it's good, it's good), and he gave up.

Ella gives the pizza a thumbs up. But only after I took all the good stuff off of it. Of course, nobody likes disgusting olives, so who cares about them.

This lunch took place across the river in the 3rd arrondissement (sort of district or precinct concept). We'd walked over there in search of a grocery store called "Thanksgiving." It specializes in tantalizing american processed foods, like Kraft Mac n Cheese and Bisquick. We bought both. It's important in the development of a child that they consume only refined carbohydrates.

We also stopped to buy Ella some new shoes because the ones she had kept popping off at the heel and made her walk funny. She now has big girl, lace-up sneakers!

We made the long walk home and Ella promptly crawled under her bed and went to sleep. There is no explanation for this. It just was.

I spent all afternoon working on a new song, which ended up kind of sucking. But it's like fishing. You use the best skill you've got, but if a 2 oz perch takes the bait, you've got to reel it in and take care of it before you can fish for a bigger catch.

Later, I still wasn't satisfied that Ella had consumed enough sugar, so we headed off to Breakfast in America for pancakes. I had a cheeseburger, so the family did net some protein for the day.

When we returned, JJ was home from her shopping, so we sat back while she showed us her finds, which was fun.

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What's all this talk about the so-called "City of Light?" Yeah, right. By the time they turn the lights on, Ella has to be in bed. Today, we decided that Ella was pumped full of enough sugar to keep her going late.

After the sun sank in whatever direction is generally sinks in, we hit the street for a wild Saturday night adventure. We hopped onto the RER (kind of like a fast, double-decker mètro) for the ride to the Eiffel Tower.

Ella, JJ and Arlyn (the stuffed dog) ride the RER to the Eiffel Tower. Fast, fairly empty except for tourists, and some guys with machine guns (seriously, but I think they were good guys).

After coming up out of the metro station, we followed the signs until we saw this:

The Eiffel Tower was lit up like a Christmas tree.

We overheard a young British boy exclaim, "Muhtha, why . . . ehts byoo-tee-fuw!" He was correct.

So as I've documented here, there is some evidence that this is a "City of Light," but I need to see more if I'm to be convinced. Unfortunately, we are approaching the longest day of the year, so it doesn't get dark around here until I'm asleep.

Here is a picture of me and Ella to show that I'm actually on this trip.