According to a new book, like a number of other activities, the first twenty minutes is essential. I like this even better than my friend Wilson’s advice that a half-hour of any activity allows you to be sedentary for the rest of the day. Just saved 10 minutes of activity so, in the spirit of this theory, I eschewed the gym. Sandy went to the park for a run. I told her that if I weren’t here when she got back, I’d be out. Must be that article about Yogi Berra and the social network that I was reading last night.

It was a planetary kind of day, starting at La Fontaine de Mars at lunch. It’s reassuring to know there are bistros still like this in Paris, ones that have been here for decades. It’s mostly a southwest menu (the wine is mostly Bordeaux) and excellent. If you are near the Eiffel Tower, go here for lunch.

Dinner at Saturne, www.saturne-paris.com, was the other extreme. In a very pretty, modern wood room, all natural produce, produced by earnest chefs (the sous chef is from Vancouver) and served by very congenial waitstaff (ours was from Carcassone) and generally excellent. A NYT piece has made it clearly popular with the Americans but there were French int the place as well. Made us feel a little like Eating Shoots and Leaves but fun nonetheless. Organic wine. Come hungry for the 60 euro dinner.