The French like animals. They really like dogs (always run a perpetual scan of the sidewalk about three feet ahead of you to avoid doggy-generated mishaps). Sometimes animals show up in funny places.
A king can't get any respect around here.
This is the statue of Charlemagne in front of Notre Dame. He’s a great meeting place for people and makes a pretty good lookout for pigeons.
Cats grow from seed, apparently.
This cat was on the second floor, enjoying his view from the window box on the Ile-de-la-Cité. I hope he doesn’t use it as a litter box, too…
That's a 200 year old dog right there.
Napoleon liked his dog so much, he had him stuffed. His name may or may not be Lauro. He lives in a glass case at the Musée de l’Armée at Les Invalides.
This dog sells home decor.
A lot of French shop owners bring their furry friends to work with them. This bulldog was keeping an eye on things at a store in our town.
Spa for goats
This goat was cooling off at Marie Antoinette’s Hameau on the grounds of Versailles.
Go fish!
These are the greediest, noisiest carp I’ve ever seen. They live in the pond at the Hameau on the grounds of Versailles. They’ve obviously been fed a lot. We threw them a few crumbs of a pulverized granola bar and they went nuts.
A crow strolls around the moat at Vincennes.
We weren’t the only ones hanging out at Vincennes that October day.
Do you wannabe a wallaby?
We were surprised to find a wallaby rescue center on the grounds at Chantilly. There were plaques there explaining why and how, but I can’t remember any of that now. Should have taken a picture of the plaque.
Pretty little orange birds. Anybody know what they are?
The Sunday bird market on the Ile-de-la-Cité was pretty cool. We only got to go one time as we were leaving for vacation. There were all kinds of colorful little birds, and also a few rabbits and hamsters.
Zebras in the parking lot, why not?
And you never know when the circus might come to town. This particular circus had set up camp in a huge parking lot near a supermarket in Dijon. They also had camels, reindeer, llamas, and miniature goats out there. They kept the tiger and lion in their cars, but we could see them occasionally.
Two Frogs and a Grasshopper 