Paris pictures: Round six

Sick of Paris pictures yet? Not me, apparently.

These pictures are from the day that Frankie and I had all to ourselves. We took a leisurely stroll up the river Seine, and ended up at the Jardin des Plantes. I was a bit nervous to navagate the city all by myself with Frankie in tow, but it actually worked out just fine. We had a really lovely day, walking around the neighborhood and taking in all of the sights. Frankie was really well-behaved, and seemed to love doing the tourist thing with her mom.

First, the river walk:

These "love padlocks" were all over the Ponts des Arts bridge. As the tradition goes, lovers affix the lock to the gate and then throw the key into the river below as a sign of their undying love. 

Snapped by Ms. Frankie.

Frankie's trademark pose.

Now, here are some pictures from the Jardin des Plantes. The Jardin des Plantes is a botanical garden in the middle of Paris. Despite the fact that it's literally in the middle of everything, it was a very quiet haven from the traffic and noise of the city. The weather, once again, was incredibly beautiful as we wandered around the gardens for hours.

Scattered throughout the gardens were different branches of the Natural History museum. There was also a small zoo that we had a great time exploring.

More pigeons = more pigeon chasing.

Having a think about the flamingoes.

The Smirking Orangutan. (Weirdly similar to the above picture, don't you think?)

There was a bunch of giant statues at the zoo that kids were just dying to crawl all over. I suspect Frankie might have like sitting on these massive statues better than seeeing the live animals.

How many families do you think have a picture exactly like this, but featuring their own child?

Outside of the zoo was a really interesting hedge maze. The maze itself wound its way up to a gazebo with a stunning view of the city. I was a little disappointed that the hedge maze was so easy to conquer, but then Frankie realized that the real maze was actually within the hedges themselves. If you were small enough, you could actually go inside the hedges at certain points of entry and crawl around the hidden maze underneath the branches. It made me a little nervous not to be able to see Frankie as she made her way through the hidden passages, but as long as I looked carefully for movement at the top of the hedges I could tell where she was. Besides, how could I say no? Hidden passages are the coolest. I only wish I was small enough to do it myself.

The only problem of the day was a slight knee-skinning incident. She bounced back like a champ, though.