Several of you reported to me that a few days ago a loose horse crossed the streets of Paris. To be honest, I thought it was some sort of prank. Maybe a little incident with a horse that escaped his master for a few seconds and made it to the news worldwide! But I investigated and I found out that not only was it true, but that on top of that a video had been shot! There are still 550 horses in La Garde Républicaine de Paris, and you can often see a few of them in the streets of Paris, like these I photographed on the Pont Neuf.
I often saw them at the Louvre when I studied there. I really like to see horses in Paris. Too bad you didn't find the one that escaped Eric!
ReplyDeleteTalk about going green. This is absolutely chartreuse.
ReplyDeleteThe video is scaring! Was petrified when the horse crossed the street with the red light...
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I thought it was a prank too.
Well, I prefer them with men (even if they are cops :p)on their backs...
I was absolutely transfixed by the video. I , too was afraid he would be hit by a car while going thru a red light.
ReplyDeleteFunny how life has radically changed. Before the advent of cars, the sight of a horse on the loose in Paris would hardly raise an eyelash.
Hmmm, let's make that 549 horses in La Garde. I'm hoping this one gets a well-deserved vacation!
ReplyDeleteOh, the poor fellow - it looks like it must have been rain-slickery on the streets (I assume no ice). I'm so glad he didn't get hit. And he picked a lovely spot for a run!!
ReplyDeleteThe video reminded me of one I saw (was it on PDP?) of a horse who escaped from a farm one year and was running with the peloton in the Tour de France. Spectacular! Can anyone put a link in for it? I think it was on You Tube.
Non-police people (as well as police) ride horses here on the city streets of Los Angeles sometimes. I doubt its legal here, as I'm sure it wouldn't be in Paris, and I was so shocked - then delighted - the first time I saw it. As they say, you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy!
I can't decide whther I think this horse was terrified—or having the time of his life. I wonder: Do these GR horses EVER get the opportunity to run like that?
ReplyDeleteThe ones in your (excellent) photo look so tame (and bored) by comparison.
Thank goodness it was not hurt! Does anyone know how it escaped in the first place?
ReplyDeleteMake that "whether."
ReplyDeleteCarrie -- do you maybe remember that horse running with the Tour de France riders from the movie Amelie? Isn't that one of the things on the tape that she makes for her neighbor?
Oh, Alexa! That's it!! I wouldn't ever have remembered where I saw it, but, as soon as you said it, I heard the music in my mind along with the image. What a great moment! I have to go home and watch that movie again. : )
ReplyDeleteFunny or moving, I don't know. Nice picture, nice post, nice choice. Everything's okay, that's important enough and the horse is alive.
ReplyDeleteOh, the poor baby, he was so happy, then he probably got scared. I'm glad he seems to be all right though!
ReplyDeleteLove the color in the photo, Eric.
But I "do" have a question, who cleans up after the horses? I'm thinking that you probably don't have the clown scoopers like we do after parades...so do pedestrians just watch where they walk?
Crazy horse!
ReplyDeleteGlad he's OK, though.
Or is it "withers"?
ReplyDeleteYour photo shows such a calm scene, very colorful too. The bright raincoats that the horses wear might have been one reason the escaped horse actually survived its AMAZING free run! That is a video I won't forget.
ReplyDeleteI put a photo that my blog on Sunday that my friend took of her horse wearing knit caps on her ears!
I just checked You Tube under 'Tour de France horse' and it says in one of the clips that it was actually a race called the Criterium Race near Toulouse. I have no way of knowing which is correct, and, I don't know how to do a link. Its really fun to watch though!
ReplyDeleteEric - I forgot to say - I love the photo!!
Good lord, in the ninety seconds I was writing a comment responding to Alexa's correction, all you people got in the way and now the joke makes no sense. I get no respect, I tell you...
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if the horse pulled a few muscles with that near-fall skid. Looked painful to me.
But Lydia, that's the source
ReplyDeleteof the "horse
of a different color",
of course.
It did look painful, Jeff - not once, but twice - I'm sure he was scared stiff by the chasing cars.
ReplyDelete"I'm wondering if the horse pulled a few muscles with that near-fall skid. Looked painful to me."
ReplyDeleteI agree. Poor thing. Probably just wanted to get out of town for a little while. Can't blame him.
.. an amazing video ..
ReplyDelete.. in the photo, I enjoy the way the gendarmes are aligned, peering in the same direction, with the same expressions.
as if there wasn't enough poop on the streets of Paris...
ReplyDeleteWhere are the cowboys with their lassos when you need them?
ReplyDeleteHorse blankets and jackets are quite colourful and contrast beautifully with one another as well as with the horses' colours. The firearm indicates that those men mean business.
ReplyDeletePS. Just checked the video and was mightily impressed for a variety of reasons. Please note that the person who finally collared the horse is a female!!
ReplyDeleteJeff -- it's okay—I totally got your joke.
ReplyDeleteKate -- I also noticed that it was a woman who finally stopped the horse. I'm not surprised; are you?
Eric, how do you always manage to have a photo to fit the story of the day? Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteBut Kate, everyone knows it takes a woman to tame a stud.
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ReplyDeleteTomate, did you say CRAZY HORSE?
ReplyDeleteThat woman was brave!
ReplyDeleteMichael, I don't want to disappoint you, but I'd be surprise if that stud wasn't a gelding...
Eric, what a combination of history and the modern. I would think there have always been some sort of police riding horses on the streets of Paris, since the time of the Parisii. This is wonderful.
Oh, Michael -- are you trying to stirrup trouble? Saddle be the day that the gallup and hoofs it out of here and, as Jeff well knows, whither she goes, she reins, and in the mane, any man who's been bit must pony up.
ReplyDeleteCarrie. I can't tell you how impressed I am.
ReplyDeleteYou don't miss a beat, Michael! ;)
ReplyDeleteThere is another Crazy Horse actually but either will work!
What an amazing video! I'm so glad they were able to catch the horse and get it out of harm's way.
ReplyDeleteAs always, the "blog banter" is great. Carrie gets the grand prize :>)
Hehe, yes I saw this on the news here in Aus, they had a video (I didn't follow your link but I presume it's the same) of someone hanging out of a moving car trying to grab it's reins/leadrope. I only say hehe coz the horses wasn't hurt, but that's a very dangerous situation, every horse owner's worst nightmare!!!
ReplyDeleteHurrah you found it Eric! I knew it wasn't a prank as I saw it on the newswires immediately and informed you. You should have trusted your loyal news journalist from England! Tut tut. lol.
ReplyDeleteThe video OMG my nails were in my mouth at the red light too Guille. PHew!
Nice still, too, Eric.
LOL Michael! It does indeed ;)
ReplyDeleteMy latest offering of news is that the YSL sale you went to broke the world record for a single owner auction, ringing in a total of EUR 206.15 M.
ReplyDeleteRock on Tomate! Thats what came into my mind too. Michael obviously has other things on his mind!
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely not prank!
ReplyDeleteThis horse is 15 years old. His name is Garibaldi, and his usual rider(?) is a female Garde Républicain.
For some reason, Garibaldi unseated its rider somewhere close to the Palais de l'Elysée (guess who could have frightened him, there !?), and decided to run back home, near Bastille (boulevard Henri IV).
Same story already happened in 2005. But at that time, the race lasted 1 hour !
Lynn, 206.15 M€ was for yesterday only! But the sale still goes on today and tomorrow... Let's imagine what it will be tomorrow evening ...
ReplyDeleteoh yes I know Thib and already broken the world record! Can you keep us up to date with the Final Total?
ReplyDeleteMichael's comment was funny, but Carrie, you take the cake today!
ReplyDeleteI mentioned to my husband that I thought he had said horses are lazy. Therefore, why would that horse run the way he did? He said it was probably trying to get back to the stables. Thanks for that info THIB (you are a husband, too)! Like I said the other day, husbands are smart and make good pets.
I had seen this terrified (thrilled) runaway on the news!!
ReplyDeleteIf you are in Philadelphia between this Friday and 17 May, be sure to experience the "Cezanne and Beyond" exhibit @ the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I am going to the members' preview tomorrow and will also order from the Cezanne themed menu in the museum's restaurant.
In September 2008 we had the quilts from Gee's Bend which were mentioned in a quilt-themed thread here recently.They were stunning in their geometric designs!
PHX, thanks for the "good pets" ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure my wife will love this one ;-))
Lynn, I'll do my best to keep you informed. But I'm travelling on Thursday (when the result is known), and might not be able to post.
But I'm sure Guille follows this event much closer than I do ;-)
Thib yes I bet she's on it.
ReplyDeletePhx I've given up on pets I'm afraid - I could never get them house trained well enough ;) - unless of course there are any particular Rovers out there you know of I could have? Woof!
Ujima!! Good to see you!! Sure has been a long time :)
ReplyDelete(Er.. you're the same Ujima that used to comment a long time ago, right? :) Otherwise, good to see you anyway ! :)
ReplyDeleteCarrie, that's the best assemblage of puns I've ever seen. Picture me genuflecting to la Reine des jeu de mots.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, anyone who allows a collar on his or her neck deserves to be treated like a subservient animal. Of course, there are many 'owners' who are subservient to their 'pets'. The same sentiment applies, except that the neighbors suffer as well.
Carrie, that's the best assemblage of puns I've ever seen. Picture me genuflecting to la Reine des jeu de mots.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, anyone who allows a collar on his or her neck deserves to be treated like a subservient animal. Of course, there are many 'owners' who are subservient to their 'pets'. The same sentiment applies, except that the neighbors suffer as well.
Thanks for the back story, Thib!
ReplyDeleteBravo, Carrie Caro! Well done!
This is from a friend who loves horses: Did you see how he stayed in the lane like a good boy? This was harrowing, especially when he slipped! Bless his heart. I think he deserves an award from the French racing authority, France Gallop, don't you?
ReplyDeleteThis is from a friend who loves horses: Did you see how he stayed in the lane like a good boy? This was harrowing, especially when he slipped! Bless his heart. I think he deserves an award from the French racing authority, France Gallop, don't you?
ReplyDeleteOui, Tomate Farcie
ReplyDeleteit's me
ujimatoday.blogspot.com
only using a different nom
because I forgot my old sign in
the old mind's not what it had been
"Of all the things I lost
I miss my mind the most!"
(Even forget which group said that :)
my husband said it was George Bush who said that.LOL.
ReplyDeletePHX's husband: LOOOL !!
ReplyDeleteAnd let's not forget Dan Quayle's remark to the United Negro College Fund. This organization had a slogan: "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
ReplyDeleteIn a speech to them, Quayle said: "What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."
OMG, Jeff that's too funny!!!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have seen the reactions. Did anyone throw anything!???
Carrie, we humbly bow in honor of you and your puns! You are the master and we are all mere acolytes!
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