Jardin du Luxembourg and Crazy Collections

will stayed home "sick" today.

it was sunny and 55

so we hopped on the metro

and went to one of my favorite

spots in paris..

jardin du luxembourg.

soon enough

those trees will be green

and the urns will be

filled with colorful flowers.

there is a really great

playground here.

you have to pay a couple of euros 

to get in

but so worth it. 

there are other playgrounds

that are free...and

puppet shows, carousels,

tennis courts,  model sailboats

to rent..

we spent hours here today.

we also went to lunch

at cafe louise on 

boulevard saint germain.

the lunch was terrific

but what i loved most of all 

was the water carafe.

i'm actually a bit obsessed

lately with the carafe d'eau.

i asked the waiter if he'd sell

me one.

he looked at me strangely 

and said no.

now, 

in ireland

steve and i started 

collecting beer glasses.

the first night in ireland

steve and i had a guinness

of course.

the glass it came in was cool

and we asked our waiter

if we could buy one.

he said..

in a great brogue..

"just take it..

everybody does"

so the rest of the trip

in each of the pubs

and with each beer we

tried 

we asked for a glass..

and they all just gave them to us!

i have started quite a few

collections.

like matches.

i don't smoke

but i love my glass jar

filling up with matches

of the restaurants

we've visited.

crazy,

i know.

now when i 

leave a restaurant

i'm asking for matches,

water carafe's and 

beer glasses.

my kids are really

embarrassed.

a couple of my new

cookbooks i can't 

wait to dig in to.

and speaking of books..

i recently finished 

jane eyre..

which i LOVED

and can't believe 

hadn't read before.

i also picked up

The Girl You Left Behind..

by JoJo Moyes.

she also wrote

Me Before You

which i went on and on about.

This one was just as good.

I loved it

and highly recommend it.

Bon Weekend!