To prove to you that Paris is such an open-minded city, I wanted to show you this woman and her dog who decided to take a stroll between the revelers of happy hour one evening. I realize that for some of you, you'll be disappointed to notice that it's not a "French poodle", but therein lies our diversity. We welcome most any animal and their owner when it comes to sharing mojitos in the 2nd arrondissement!
I miss having a dog so much!
ReplyDeleteI love how they're so welcomed in France.
And I could go for a mojito!
Not only isn't it a French poodle, but isn't that, egads!, a mongrel? ;-) Something caught his eye and he doesn't look too happy about it. Did someone make off with his mojito?
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a mojito in Paris, but yesterday I did have a glass of very good Spanish Garnache on the 27th floor lounge of The Foshay hotel. The view is really great from this super-hip location: a renovated art deco building patterned after the Washington Monument.
ReplyDeleteMojito!
ReplyDeleteMojito!!
Mojito!!!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....
Yup.
I believe you sneaked this photo when the subjects were unaware, and that includes the dog! The photo works so well because the camera is low, looking up not only at the woman but at the pretty buildings above her.
ReplyDeleteMongrel the pooch may be, and that's the best kind. When we visited I noticed Parisian dogs are small. My dog is 65 pounds of muscle (a mix of Boxer and Mastiff). I don't think he'll fit in on the streets of Paris.
Ah well, we shall have to live in the country and visit Paris on weekends.
I like almost all dogs. Saw some bull mastiffs recently and was impressed by their size. It would be more work than I am able to do nowadays just to take care of them, but it would be nice to have a dog again.
ReplyDeleteI just love it when I go to a Paris restaurant and find a well-behaved chien Parisien sitting at the feet of the diner next to me. Sometimes I think people's dogs are more welcome in restaurants than their children are!
ReplyDeleteOne of my daughters brought a 9-month-old Weimaraner home from college. Gorgeous dog and so sweet—but super-needy. He ate everything from futons to baseboards to cell phones to books (but only irreplaceable 18th-century French ones and first editions, of course). Yikes. I needed multiple mojitos.
Congrats on GF, buzzgirl!
Sorry, Eric -- all that and I forgot to tell you how much I love your slice-of-life photos. This one's so well done (which is not a bad thing to say in English, Guille), and the subject looks so typically Parisienne and chic.
ReplyDeleteWe in the U.S. should be this dog friendly!
ReplyDeleteSalut Eric,
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Croissy-sur-Seine and had a Great Dane which ran next to me on my bicycle. Once it took off so fast that I fell over the handle bars. Now I have a rat terrier and live in Orange County, California, and still ride my bike with the dog next to me. No bike injuries with this small dog.
Just returned from Paris a month ago where I visited my Father. Love to go back and eat all the fromages. I love the way there are so many new baguettes with poppy seeds, whole grain etc. When I lived there there was only the baguette, the batard and the ficelle. Great blog! Thanks for the entertainment.
What a cutie! Oh wait, I guess I shouldn't be focusing on the guy on the left. The dog is pretty cute too. I wish I could borrow a dog for my month in Paris, because I know I could meet lots of people and improve my French a whole lot if I had a cute dog to break the ice! If anyone wants a fun dog-in-France book, check out the memoir "Spotted in France" about a Dalmation and his American owner.
ReplyDeleteHappy hours...the story of my life.
ReplyDeleteI had an apple mojito yesterday evening,no alcohol in it because I was going to the theatre. It was amazingly fresh.
Eric, sorry for this reference but the woman makes me think about Yolande Moreau in Les Deschiens! The dress probably. :)
It's quite rare to see dogs in the cafés...
Alexa, LOL. I talked about it few days ago with a friend of mine who's Irish and is learning French. He couldn't understand why 'bien fait' was not nice. Hard to explain!
(BTW, Facebook?!)
Katie, no need to have a dog to break the ice in Paris! We're lovely and friendly you know. ;)
Katie -- Now I know how I can make a living if I move to Paris: I'll call my business "Rent-a-Chien" and you can be my first customer!
ReplyDeleteParis and dogs always makes me think of the French cartoonist Sempé (yay–I made an accent! How did I do that?), who did the best dog cartoons. My favorite was a series of 4 drawings. In the first three, an obnoxious guy is yelling at his dog, and the dog is cowering. In the 4th, the guy is walking away, and the dog is thinking "Vieux con."
Guille I've always found Parisians to be "lovely and friendly" especially since I can understand French ok, and speak enough to be understood (although in a horrible accent with terrible grammar). But I'd bet real money that if I walked around Paris with a quirky little cute dog, many more people would make small talk with me at cafes, in line for my daily pain au chocolat, sitting in a park, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo Alexa, you have 5 weeks to put together a business plan and find me a cute dog so I can be the first customer at Alexa's Parisian Rent-a-Chien! I love Sempé too; I can just picture that series you're talking about.
Eric I agree with Alexa about your slice of life photos. I love all the little details that make it so Parisian (the chairs, the lamppost, the signage). And how fun that where you took this photo is just 4 blocks from where I'll be staying when I'm in Paris!
Oh and great GF win Buzzgirl!
Guille -- Oui, ou plutot (je n'arrive toujours pas a trouver ce foutu circonflexe), ouai, Facebook. Tu me fait penser de mes filles, qui trouve ça (mon Dieu, j'ai fais une cedille!) un peu amusant que je sois sur FB. Et je note qu'il'y'a une autre version de FB pour les gens de plus de quarante ans. Non, mais vraiment?? Qu'en-penses tu?
ReplyDeleteWhere have all the Borzois gone? Long time passing...
ReplyDeleteAlexa, you'll always surprise me: Quel français!!
ReplyDeleteIl y a une version pour les gens de plus de 40 ans? Vraiment?! Do you belong to it?! ;) Je trouve ça bizarre, les gens de plus de 40 ans sont censés être plus bêtes (or computer incapable as PHX said once) et ont accès à une version simplifiée de Facebook? LOOOL
Anyway, be my friend Alexa! :D
Katie -- Oh, how I wish! So how would you feel about a nice cocker spaniel? Or a standard poodle (his name is Klaxon)?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, lucky you! Five weeks will fly by.
Actually, in exactly six weeks, I'll be leaving for Italy (my 2nd love)—but the next vacation is reserved for Paris (maybe timed for the PDP picque-nicque?).
Eric, this photo resonates strongly. It takes me back to the last time I was in Paris (2004). I had been away from my dog Bailey (our 6 yr old Bichon Frise) for about a week when a French gentleman came strolling along the rue with a handsome Bichon of his own...a cute dog I admit, but his dog could only speak and respond to French. I won't hold that against him though...the dog or the man.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, my little urinator can bark in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, English, Vietnamese, Japanese,...oh, and Mandarin,too. He tops the charts in sign language, as well. No surprise here as he got his Master's at Barkley University and his PH.PEED at Georgia (you know, Bulldog U).
Anyway, as I was saying, at that moment in the Marais when I saw this French Biche, I could almost hear Donny Osmond singing "Puppy Love," and I realized how much I missed my little guy and how much Bailey had indeed become one of the family.
Traveling is tough without my language guide. My dog is multi- talented. He is such a great linguist and language interpretor too (he's much better than Babelfish...well who isn't?); and he is as talented in pawmanship as a number of my friends. He's quite prolific and he is often seen practicing his name in the sand, on treetrunks, on parked car tires, or on fire hydrants while...well, you know. Who wouldn't love a dog that can do all that? And he writes standing up on only three legs!
I'm sure Paris would welcome a dog with so many of these virtues. Plus, he's really good natured. He's only been tossed out of one bar his entire life, but not for drunkenness or disorderly behavior. He was singing Karaeoke at The Broken Spoke and the cowboys there didn't like this Edith Piaf number "La Fille et le Chien" he was trying to pull off. They wanted to hear his Patsy Cline's "Walkin After Midnight" but he preferred Piaf. They tossed him off the stage. Aside from this tiny mishap, Bailey's really got it all, and I'm proud of him.
Bailey congratulates you on this fine photo, Eric. He has just signed that he likes your sidewalk and grass photos in the jardins the best. Well, I've promised to take him for a walk if he'd help me conjugate my Latin verbs. Ciao!
Guille -- J'espere (sorry, it's 3:20 AM in NYC—too late for accents aigues or graves) bien that I'll always surprise you! Les gens de plus de quarante ans can have their version, I'll stick with you and the version simplifié.
ReplyDeleteEt je suis deja ta copine.
coltrane -- and here I am trying to get to bed already! But I am drawn back in when I hear that you have a bichon frise (one of my faves). I am SO sure Paris would welcome Bailey -- say, I don't suppose you'd be willing to rent him out to Katie while she's in Paris??
ReplyDeleteThe angle of this photo gives a sense of action. I like it!
ReplyDeleteKatie, will you be sending everyone postcards?
Coltrane and Bailey, I think you have Bonbon (chocolate Standard Poodle) and me beat in the talent division. Bonbon only counts to five, and only in English. But she's an enthusiastic dancer, as seen in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR9V1-86jpk
yes, taking a dog almost anywhere is one of the many wonders of life in France. I took mine one day to the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo - the American Bar. He was served water and a biscuit on a tray, placed on the floor in front of him!
ReplyDeleteThis is great, until you step in one of their parting gifts.
ReplyDeleteAlexa: Ironically I emailed you on the email from your pix a few days ago about getting together! Plz get a hold of me!
ReplyDeleteI just tried facebook here in LHR and it was in Japanese. Computer incapable,
ReplyDeleteIt is becoming a little more acceptable to have dogs at sidewalk cafés here. I think it is more common in Paris because their dogs are well behaved. Many Americans don't understand that they are responsible for training their dogs to be well behaved. A pity. I love dogs, but often dislike their owners because the dogs are unpleasant company.
ReplyDeleteLess than two weeks until I'll be in Chicago. Anyone nearby?
"You love Paris? You have never been to Paris but you would like a sneak preview?" Thank you for bringing Paris, Mojitos, and our four legged friends to the net!
ReplyDeleteCali,"...isn't that, egads!, a mongrel?" You're funny; where do you come up with this stuff? You must a little joke book hidden away.
ReplyDeleteOnce when my mother-in-law, Françoise, came from Paris to visit us in San Francisco, she brought her little Yorkshire dog, Ulysees, it flu the whole way in her purse. And when we went to restaurants, she would put her purse on the floor and he would stay in it -- he was as good as gold and so well behaved. I tried to tell her that wasn't allowed in SF restaurants. But she doesn't understand anything but French. So she said, nonsense, and did it anyway. The restaurant people were none the wiser.
Once I saw a really big dog (I think it was a Lab) sitting at the feet of the diner next to me at Cafe de Flore on Blvd. Saint-Germain. That was a rare sight.
Coltrane, I wondered what you would be saying. You always make me happy to read your comments. You are an excellent writer. "...his dog could only speak and respond to French. I won't hold that against him though...the dog or the man." LOLove for that one. The story about your little dog is soooo amusing and clever. merci
Merci Eric for the happy "slice of life" photo. I just adore dogs. Oh, yes, you know; because when you visited me, I was babysitting my daughter's little Pomeranian dog, Buddy. My daughter takes him to restaurants and he stays in her purse on the floor.
Jeff, I'm not near by -- I wish I were :(
Lois...you are a dear one. Truth be told, I always look forward to YOUR stories and comments. You've managed to pack several lives into this one and you amaze me. Your anecdote about your mother-in-law Francoise is too funny and amusing and is why I so look forward to your comments. Plus, you are just a POSITIVE energy. Cheers! ;-)
ReplyDeleteLydia...too funny! Thanks.;-)
ReplyDeleteI love the pets... but my talons hauts do not.
ReplyDeletehehe this dog is cuter compared to a poodle..hehe..
ReplyDeleteWhen I spent a day exploring Paris in 2003, I had just sat down around the corner from a busy street (wanted some quiet and less bustle), and a woman rounded the corner. She was on her mobile phone and wore a VERY hip outfit - mini skirt, small shirt, jewelry on every possible body part - and had quite colourful makeup, as well as fancy done-up hair that probably took her 2 hours.
ReplyDeleteWith her were her dogs: Two black, full-sized French poodles, complete with the puffs around the feet and the bob on the tail. I wished my camera had been at the ready, but I had an eclaire in my hand!
Dogs are great, and I enjoyed watching them in Paris.