Paris, 7 a.m.: Ghost Town

I got up early today to spend time with the people who work the early shift at my office. Wow, what a surprise.

Paris at 7 a.m. is almost totally dark. The sun hadn't risen yet (and remember it's still, technically, summer). My neighborhood was a ghost town. The only people on the street were a couple of street cleaners and some cafe owners who were just unlocking their doors and starting to set chairs on the sidewalk.

And these are the people who serve breakfast.

My colleagues said this is something unique to Paris -- Londoners, Romans and Germans are all out and about by 7 a.m. -- but couldn't explain it. Although it might have something to do with the darkness; Paris is pretty far west in its time zone and so dawns and sunsets occur later on the clock.

The morning rush hour seems to hit its peak here between 9 and 10 a.m., and the evening rush around 7 p.m.

In New York my daily routine was to go to the gym around 7:30 in the morning, before work. I had hoped to do that here but have been having trouble finding a gym that opens that early, which I figured had something to do with the French work ethic.

But maybe they just realize they wouldn't have any customers.