one last word about the trip to Brussels

 
At the flea market in Brussels we came across a unique objet d’art we couldn’t pass up. It’s a 2 ft. alligator (crocodile?) cast in bronze. He looks like he has been outside for some time and has a nice green patina. We first spotted him early in the day as we were meandering around the market. We enjoyed checking out all the other junk and watching people haggle over prices and then left to go have some coffee. It was over that cup of cappuccino that I suggested that we might “need” a bronze 2 foot alligator.

We walked back to the market and drove a hard bargain to acquire the newest addition to our family. As is our custom with purchases from strange places, we decided we had to give him a name, and of course it had to be French. Voila ... he was christened Pierre.

We did have a small problem getting him home. He weighs about 5 pounds and it was a long walk back to the hotel, and as we carried him by his tail, we got a lot of strange looks. Then Pierre was about 10 inches too long to fit in our suitcases. I zipped his body inside my suitcase and left the curved tail to stick out ... as you might imagine ... on the train back home ... and through the subway ... even more strange looks!