The Elysian Fields

Thousands of years from now, when humans are no more and dinosaurs roam the earth once again, there will be a particular spot where all the dinosaurs are remarkably well-groomed, and look sour all the time. The stegosaurus will cut its eyes down and to the left as it frowns at nothing in particular, and the procompsognathus will sashay between the ferns like it's on a runway.

I am in Paris, and it is such a wonderful place. In the wine shop, the immaculately scruffy monsieur interrogated me for fully ten minutes before recommending a 2010 Baux-de-Provence with notes of white pepper and currant and I didn't catch the rest. In the macaron shop, the flawless woman behind the counter snapped at indecisive people and cut them out, then gave me a dazzling smile for choosing pistachio (vindication!)

I stumbled upon the Eiffel Tower on the skyline early this morning. Hello! I wandered into the Tuileries while on a conference call. Well well! I ate a tartine with jam and coffee, then a chausson au pommes with coffee, then salmon and mesclun, then a tartine with jam and coffee, all in the space of six hours. Good thing it was all decaf, and good thing I am only here for one more day.

It's revealing that this is the only photo I took today