Sleep Deprivation & Excitement for.. Yellow Pages?

From Monday to now I have collectively stayed awake for about 50 hours- which puts me at an average of merely 6.5 hours of sleep a night.  I am normally a morning person, but, when I arrived in France Bri's schedule threw mine off in some odd 'jetlag horror' and now I'm more of a night person and less of a morning person.

I am also in the attempts to go on a diet in France which I can say is on my 'Top 5 List of Miserable Things to do in Life'.  I'm not doing it because I feel like I need to, I'm doing in my preparation for Christmas.  How does one do it?  Well, breakfast is an Activia yogurt and some 'Krisprolls' with jam.  Snack is a jelly sammich (on small bread).  Lunch is a little tomato/young greens salad, with maybe a soup.  Snack is some popcorn.  Dinner is only one serving, no 'entrance', no 'cheese' and if I do have dessert it's a little square of Milka.  It's absolute Hell.  If I were in America right now I'd be in the works to get my stretchy pants and know, by this time tomorrow, I'd be waddling home with a Turkey Coma.

You see, last Christmas, I came weighing about 129 lbs and left weighed about 145 lbs.  No exaggeration.  I gained 16 lbs in one month... it's not just the dinners- no- it's the fois gras, the stream of Champagne, the fatty rôtis, the delectable 'papiotte'.  Oh yes, I am in efforts to lose weight so that at least by January I will be equal to myself now.

I also have found myself with a stomach that isn't agreeing with all this French food- it's too heavy, the microbes are different and the meat is different.  I think that I've gotten so used to 'highly processed' American eats that I've lost the ability to digest real food.  I've even gone to buying and eating Activia.  You know, the yogurt that's for old ladies that might have 'digestive issues'...

I was excited yesterday, despite my sleep deprivation, to get my very own copy of the 'Pages Jaunes' or the 'Yellow Pages'.  I can't really define why it's exciting- but leafing through a giant book of businesses (many of which are not listed in Google) and scanning for Boulangeries that I haven't found, or that store that has expatriate items, it's a personal joy.  I was even thinking about it as I crossed the bridge to Bellecour (against traffic, apparently everyone comes when I leave).  Is that sad, or just one of those little pleasures that define us as 'unique'.

Speaking of Expatriate items, I found a shop while parading about drunk on Beaujolais last Friday.  It's called 'Little Britain' and it's in the 6ème, 12 Blvd des Brotteaux.  Not much on their website, but I plan to make a stop in there some day.. just for the Hell of it.  Bet I can find cheddar...

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