Today was monumental. I saw all sorts of big, majestic stuff — Place de Concorde, Grand Palais, Ecoloe Militaire, on and on. I went to see the Marie Antoinette exhibit but after waiting in a not too long line for two hours had to leave. The silver lining to my Grand Palais visit was the Art Paris: 10e Foire d’Art Moderne + Contemporain show, which runs only four days. It features contemporary art from around the world. How fortuitous that I took a wrong turn after quitting the Marie Antoinette queue.

Dear readers, my feet hurt. I mean, srsly. Even the tops of my feet hurt and how the hell did I swing that? Ancient cobblestones are not forgiving. Of course my eager-walker attitude doesn’t help; I tend to underestimate distances and get lost. I took a photo of my feet in yoga toes, for the record, but what an ugly picture that is. I won’t be sharing.

Paris and I have found a rhythm. I can’t stand the thought of leaving next week although I miss home. My appetite is slowly returning and the Parisian schedule of late meals is fitting my mood. Now I need to scare up some supper ’round these parts.

Ah, the splendor of standing under the Eiffel Tower when the golden night lights dim and suddenly the entire structure is pulsing with bright white LEDs. Paris, you keep the surprises coming.

I go to Paris and Moxie gets on ABC TV nightly news! She says “Last night they aired a segment on ABC World News about where I work and they got me leaving a meeting!”

Thanks to the Internet I can watch the spot from over here. I’ve only viewed the clip a dozen times. If you’re alert you can see a slice of Ted’s head. I agree 100 percent with John Vars about the social clues we miss when we’re fiddling with gadgets. Laptops and PDAs can be disconnectors. Viva la topless movement.

Paris is still wonderful. I’ve been ingesting all it has to offer and think maybe I’ve overdone it. My system isn’t used to all this rich food and I developed what Julia Child called “Paris belly.” Too much, butter, pate and wine. And bread! Croissants, pain au chocolat, baguette… no wonder I feel ill around the gills. Last night at dinner I sat next to three men who are in town for an international bread conference. One Spanish, one Italian, one German. They asked me to join them for desert and I did. No one spoke much of the other’s language… there was lots of hand-talking and face-making.

I’m at the halfway point of my trip and there’s still so much I want to see. I’m trying to be calm and not panic, let Paris present itself to me. Yesterday during a wander/shopping expedition I happened upon one of the things I’d earmarked in my travel guide, a medieval house. Before I leave I want to do one fancy, ricidulous dinner but need to get my tummy functional. Last night I got eight hours of sleep. Here’s to that becoming a trend.