The long days

At exactly 11 o'clock tonight I took this photo from my kitchen window.



It's that time of year in the northern hemisphere where the days are long, all the more so up in these rarified latitudes. I keep having to point out to Americans that Paris is at about the latitude of Vancouver, farther north than Quebec City.

This means many more hours for all to enjoy the cafés, the football matches (Euro 2008 is gracing many a bar these days), the sheer pedestrian joy of walking the islands with a cone from Berthillon.

For those cursed with insomnia, it means that the respite -- or just plain spite -- of daylight comes hours earlier than in winter.

I tend to wake up with the sun in summer, just to say hello, and then go back to sleep.