Les chiens et les chats de Paris et plus

I flew into Paris knowing I was going on to the London Vet show, so my focus was decidedly on pets. No need to seek out the vets this trip, there would be time enough next June at the France Vet show for that. Besides, I had just come from a great NY Vet show and seeking les chats and les chiens in public should not be a problem. Au contraire! Whether it was the cold, the security, the lack of having a pet with me, real pet sightings were in short supply, and I had to admit by the end of my stay I missed them.

Don’t get me wrong, as is evidenced by the Louis Vuitton Catogram story, I was duly impressed by the exquisite presentation and fascinating collaboration behind the Catogram collection. There’ll be more to discover behind that story, both here in New York and in general with that legendary luxury brand (even if it is to look and admire!).  The fact Grace Coddington is a redhead and a lover of cats and her collaborator, Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière, a lover of dogs (a labrador at that) makes this story even more compelling to me.

The day jaunt to the country for an historical research project yielded a rabbit sighting, many cows, goats and sheep grazing, but lap dogs and shop cats were in short supply. Admittedly a day later I did find a park full of dogs at the Jardin du Royal, a lovely pack of darling dogs and their polite owners that satisfied my curiosity. But, no dog parks, no parks filled with dogs, no dog walkers, no therapy dogs. The culture context is different and that’s what I love about my travels, to see pet culture whereever and however I find it. For more on pets in Paris, stay tuned, I’m never giving up on the City of Lights (and Love!)

Turning back to cats, I may not have seen any live ones, but there were plenty of le chats on many other goods. Humans not only adore them, they write about them and pay tribute to them in so may artistic ways. In fact, here in the U.S. the CWA contest opened this week on cyber Monday with totally revamped categories. Now is the time to see if you can snag a prize for your work in this area. Details are here.

As we were putting this issue together we came across the enchanting and very comprehensive 75th anniversary edition of The Little Prince. The most interesting discovery for me was the connection to Long Island and New York City. Animal figures play a significant role in this famous novella by a French author. Find out about the connection and the role of the fox and where to find the book here.

Finally, we are continuing to communicate with those winners of our “What’s Your Story Now?” promotion for 2019 from the NY Vet show. You’ll find new listings this week and we are excited to be doing these profiles and announcing the rest of the winners. In the meantime, check out the latest photos and more winners here. Next week I’ll be writing more about my observations from London Vet. Stay tuned!

@lgerminder

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