Monsieur Chien et Madame Chat

Parisians love their pets. In Paris, it is not usual to see pets at cafés with their owners being treated like humans. You never see signs that say, “Sorry, no pets.” Even if there were such a sign, Parisians would ignore it. In my neighborhood in the first arrondissement, the pets are plentiful. There is your typical chic gay couple with their impeccably groomed Afghan hounds. There is the seemingly lonely older Frenchwoman with her doppelgänger poodle who has the same violet tinted hair as her own. Another gay couple, super edgy with tattoos and piercings with their darling Italian Greyhound. Every fashionista around here has a French bulldog. And of course your typical bourgeois French family with their terrier. Parisians love their pets so much and have such regard for them that in the Paris suburb of Asnieres–sur–Seine there is the world’s oldest pet cemetery named Le Cimetiere des Chiens et Animaux Domestiques. Built in 1899, the cemetery is a quirky place with every type of animal from dogs, cats, monkeys, a lion named Tiger, a racehorse, bunnies, a sheep and a hen. A Romanian Princess has her beloved dog , aptly named Drac, buried here as well. This posting is dedicated to my friend Tom, who is the greatest animal lover of all time...He hates it when I “buy” dogs and give Kitty cats milk.

Grace Kelly walking her dogs in Paris, Autumn

Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent, Paris 1970

Rue du Chat-qui-Peche Paris

portrait of Gertrude Stein's poodle by Man Ray, Paris

Alice and Gertrude walking their dog in Paris

French author Colette, Paris Palais Royale

Audrey Hepburn taking her dog for a ride in Paris

Karl Lagerfeld and Choupette

Julia Child's cat, Paris

Little Gloria Vanderbilt and her dog, Paris

Pablo Picasso in his studio with cat, Paris

Princess Grace and Princess Caroline of Monaco, Paris, 1976

Pablo Picasso in his studio with his Afghan dog named Kazbeck, Paris, 1944

Jacques Garcia's sight hound, Paris

Grace Kelly walking her dogs, Paris

Lou Doillon, Jane Birkin's daughter, with her English bulldog, Paris

Baroness Philippe de Rothschild in her drawing room with dog, Paris

Les Cimetiere des Chiens, Paris

Two great books… The French Dog and The French Cat by author Rachel Hale McKenna available in my blog bookstore. Yep, I have a bookstore.