Brian only had afternoon rehearsal on Saturday, so we got out of the house by 9:30 am (quite a feat for us) and headed out on the train which again, was very exciting for Colin. It was a beautiful day again and was so nice to see lots of blue sky. I forget whose statute this was, but I think he was also enjoying sitting in the sunshine.

Colin enjoying a cookie in his stroller. More cute Paris.

Across from this fountain in St. Germain was a great little Saturday morning market. Tons of great produce (where Brian was finally able to find garlic since the grocery store we walk to has not had it) and beautiful seafood. Brian was shy to take photos and look like tourists. We were lucky we got an early start because we came back mid-day to get some yummy Lebanese sandwiches and the market was packing up. We also got to sample some yummy gruyere cheese. Brian had it confirmed to him why so much of the cheese is more tasty here: different pasteurisation standards. Brian went on and on about "how can America really be the land of the free when raw milk is illegal?" He was very worked up about this point a couple of years ago when he wanted to make his own clotted cream. He even looked into getting in on a time-share cow so he could get his own raw milk. Too bad we lost our zoning for large animals in Utah because we used to have a cow and horses on our property. Brian would be in his little rural heaven.

Makes you want to buy flowers, no?

We headed over to the Jardin des Plantes thanks to an email suggestion from our friend Jessica who named the Zoo as one of her favorite places in Paris. I need to thank Jess for the email. The Park was so beautiful with all the sunshine and it was kind of just what I needed to feel out of the city for a few minutes. Colin got lots of walking time in and got quite filthy.

The zoo here is called the Menagerie and was founded in 1794. They have very darling little thatched buildings all over the grounds.

Jessica had specifically mentioned how great the reptile house was and we agree. Feels very Victorian, or whoever was the French ruler at the time. Colin was happy to see a crocodile, although we called it an alligator for him. He loves Maurice Sendack's Alligators All Around.

We loved this snake charmer outside the reptile house.

More cute buildings.

Brian in front of one of the buildings of the natural history museum. He got the scarf in the little market earlier that day to match his new Christmas coat. I love the orange in the scarf.

On our walk back we saw this in a window and thought it was very adorable. I would love to see some crafty frat boy do this with his favorite beer bottles.