CATS!

Today I met a cat.  We went to an English bookstore called Tea and Tattered Pages where you can buy used books that English-speaking people donate.  It's a funky, dusty little store with tall bookcases of yellowed books and narrow aisles, books piled on stools and in the window.  In the back is a little tea room with about five tables.  There is also a narrow staircase that goes into the basement where there are even more books.  As we walked in we were met by a yellow, long-haired animal that resembled a dog, but clearly was not.  We looked at each other and circled each other keeping eye contact the whole time.  The bookstore man asked if I was cat friendly and Mom said that she didn't think I'd ever seen one.  I touched noses with the cat, and then it went about its business while I stayed close to Mom.  The cat seemed to own the place - it went in and out of the shop by way of the window and at times slept on the books in the window.  We played hide-and-seek for a while around the ends of the bookcases.  Every time I thought he had disappeared, he would pop up again in another place.  Cats are very mysterious.

MOM...?

Then we went to la Grande Epicerie, a giant gourmet food store which had desserts that looked like works of art.  Mom says that in France they taste as good as they look - I don't know, I didn't get to taste any.  They had every kind of bread imaginable, even bread brochettes - little sticks with tiny loaves of bread strung on them.  There were different departments for different kinds of cheeses (did you know that France has as many as 400 different kinds of cheese?).  There are aisles of food from other countries.  In France, the U.S. is an other country.  On our aisle were microwave popcorn, marshmallows, peanut butter, and beef jerky among other things.  Mom, not being a cook (except, occasionally, for me), was most taken by the prepared foods in the "deli" section.

When we left the food store with all the goodies in the bottom of the stroller again - where I couldn't reach them - we went to have lunch.  We ate at tiny tables on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant where it was very crowded.  Mom was moving a chair and the table a little bit to make room for the poussette so it wouldn't be in the doorway, and the waitress came scurrying out to tell her she couldn't do that - everything had to be behind the line.  "What line?" Mom said, and the waitress described an imaginary line in front of the rows of tables.  So Mom let her put everything where she wanted them to be and she was very happy.  For lunch Mom ordered the rabbit in mustard sauce which she said was very good.  Part way through the meal she discovered two little objects that looked like plump kidney beans.  They were the rabbit's KIDNEYS!  YUM!  Mom didn't want them so she gave them to me - OMD, I have never tasted anything so delicious!  If only Mom's friends had ordered rabbit, too, I would have had six of those scrumptious things!

My apologies to Coco Rose and Puff.  Please don't think I'm bad or that my mother is bad.  The rabbit was dead anyway.

On our way home we walked through le jardin du Luxembourg where dogs are not allowed, except around the perimeter.  Mom said we'll just pretend like we don't know any differently.  About half way across we spotted two policemen coming and they spotted us.  Mom stayed cool and didn't make eye contact, but it didn't work.  We'd been pinched by police in Paris.  They told Mom there were no dogs allowed in the park and Mom said, "Oh, excuse me.  I'll put him in his stroller."  They smiled (sort of) and walked off as Mom pushed me the rest of the way through the park.

Now we're resting after our long walk and large meal. (I'm speaking for the humans.  I had neither.)