This delightful door knocker in the shape of a lady's hand was seen all over the parts of France I traveled in from South to North, this one is in Toulouse.
In Normandy there are still some thatched roofs to be seen and lots of window boxes just overflowing with red geraniums.
This wonderful church door was around the side of the imposing church in Mirepoix. It seems to be a little more humble giving on to the herb garden as it does.
Ah, the door of Charlick and Yolanda. Their home, auberge, guest house was a family farm that was stunning in its age, amazing ambience and beauty. You had to duck your head to get in this little door which lead to the guest dining room and the best breakfast in France.
My favorite French door. Looks Spanish doesn't it?

The beautiful blue window was in Mirepoix, an
old 14th century walled city. Most of the doors
and windows there were tans, beiges, and wood. The houses were painted in muted colors and the streets were narrow and cobbled. This vivid blue window was such a delightful exception.



And then I walked around the corner and found this wonderful postcard of a place which even had a perfect blue bicycle outside the door!

The little lady painted green is in actuality only about 1.5" tall. I saw her all over France so she must have been pretty common at one time. This is a shutter holder. When the shutters are open they fit behind the woman's head. Just one more wonderfufl detail.

Doors and Windows, the view from here

I am in love with doors and windows, this came home to me when found I had shot innumerable French doors and windows. My paintings of interiors always seem to feature a view out a window so this was new, because French doors and windows are very closed to the outside world.

There are no screens in France but almost every window has a set of shutters that either roll up or pull closed. There are exquisite and very old shutter holders on the walls in some places, my favorites looked like little ladies heads. Curls and a tipped forward bonnet and only about 1.5 inches tall. At dark, or when the family decides--the shutters on the street side are closed. Where we stayed with friends in Pamiers, at dark the shutters were all closed. The house became a cosy cave.

The doors in most cases are on the street, there are no front porches and you step directly onto the street. Of course, this is in the case where there are multi-family dwellings--houses are fenced thoroughly and well. And in most cases in the cities the fences have sheets of metal that are tall enough to prevent seeing over or through to the family's private garden.

My very first French pooch photo. Mimi was owned by a little old lady dressed to the hilt with blue eye shadow. I asked if I could take a picture of Mimi and she cooed over Mimi and held up her mignon, who just look long suffering and made me laugh.
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My favorite photo du chat--Pamiers in southern France near the Spanish border.
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This youngster on a Pamier window frame was as curious about me as I was about him.
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An elderly cat in Pamiers watching over the Saturday morning laundry.
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In Pamiers I found this dirty pawed pussy cat having a snooze on a second floor balcony.
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And in Les Sable d'Ollone in Brittany near the beach, we encountered not one but two ladies with FRENCH poodles in the park.
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I can almost hear him saying, "Qu'est-ce que qu'est?"
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This pup was sitting in a window on a street near the fort of La Rochelle, just enjoying the sunshine.
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Madame Siamese poses in front of a charming city hall--the Mairie--in Plugonven in Brittany. The Mairie are uniformly well kept and every town has one.
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Madame la Siamese obviously a frequent resident of the parish close in Plugoven in Brittany.
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Bonnie indoors. She had a bed in the gallery, one on the landing, one in the kitchen and probably in the rooms we couldn't see too. She was old and the house was older. Dating to the 14th century or so. It was beautiful. Two rooms deep and two rooms wide, four stories tall with a roof garden. A narrow winding staircase wound up the center of the house top to bottom. Our room looked over the street and we spent a lot of time just staring at the world below going by.
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Meet Bonnie, explained by the young mademoiselle store minder as, "Bonnie, comme Bonnie un Clyde, vous comprends?" Yes, Bonnie as in Bonnie and Clyde I understand. Bonnie belonged to Madame Cheval (horse lady) our elegant Honfleur landlady for two days.
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And now for a nap in the sun...Honfleur in the afternoon.
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And in Honfleur's narrow windy streets I came upon this fellow keeping watch in a first floor window.
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My very favorite French dog photo is of this guy waiting patiently outside a store selling gentleman's fashions in Honfleur. The store is called "Umbrellas of the Real Cherbourg"
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Unfortunately, the dog and the lady had divergent paths....
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In the great cathedral square in Rouen I saw this lady and her dog out shopping.
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In Giverny at Monet's home and gardens there was a lovely little cat sunbathing on the path from the house down through the gardens. Since Monet loved cats very much this seemed perfect. I couldn't resist buying the miniature white porcelain cat on a silk pillow in the foundation Monet gift shop. The same cat in porcelain, life sized, was in Monet's kitchen. It was a gift from his Japanese friends. He corresponded regularly with them because he'd loved Japanese woodblock prints and they hang to this day all over his house.
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Another cemetery cat on the stroll.
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The orange arrow is pointing to a disappearing Colette cat perhaps in Pere La Chaise.
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At Pere La Chaise it is said that the red roses on Colette's grave are put there daily by the cemetery cats. It surprised me to see in several old crypt/ossuary/family memorials with broken open doors, there were cat beds and food dishes. Some were simply baskets of straw on the floors and altars but this one was a box full of baby blankets wrapped in plastic with a picture of the resident pasted on top. I liked knowing the cats are cared for. There was a plastic food dish, a water bowl and a milk jug of water on the shelf in this crypt so someone is making the rounds on a daily basis. Since you have to pay to get in, I wonder who?
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Saint Chappelle cat preparing for a nap.
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The beautifu church of St Chappelle had a black thin feral kitty in residence on the broken stonework outside who was not terrifically worried about much as he strolled away.
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And here she is again....
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Madame Chat lunching out of a porcelain bowl on fresh fish.
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No one ever looks askance at the pampered pets of Paris--even when they are walking on your belongings.
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Madame Chat strolls the premises.
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I love this picture. We stopped for lunch at a wonderful Alsation restaurant which hosted a neighborhood cat with not a ruffled feather or eyebrow on the part of patrons or restaurant staff. Look closely you'll see her relaxing in the planter after a restaurant provided snack.
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This black and white kitty was relaxing in Josephine's garden at Chateau Malmaison.
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At a restaurant in our neighborhood one evening walking home from the Metro we encountered this little guy having dinner with his family. Yes, dogs are welcome in restaurants. They have dog dishes and dog menus.
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A poodle being dragged around the vegetable stands, notice the beautiful little red radish bunches on the gentleman's left? Boy were they ever good! We bought them and ate them with our picnics all over the country.
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A Parisian Scotty and his people shopping in Vincennes on a Saturday morning. Packed with people and stuff, the markets don't seem to phase the pups at all.
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I loved this little old lady who bought a saucisson (sausage) at the Tuesday morning market for this mutt tied up in front of his owners bar/cafe. She crossed the street to give it to him and then went on her way home.
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This great big chow was busy in the flower market sniffing the flowers and the shoppers in Vincennes.
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At the market in Vincennes this guy was leash free but stuck close to mom.
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Small dogs are everywhere, so is small dog poop. My favorite sidewalk sign had a picture of a dachshund stenciled on the sidewalk in white paint with a blue arrow pointing to the sewer opening in the gutter next to the sidewalk. I'm hoping it didn't mean dispose of dachshunds here, I'd rather it mean put your dog poop here. I think more people probably put dachunds in the sewer than picked up their dogs messes if the sidewalks were any indication.
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In the vicinity of the Eiffel tower are several lovely neighborhoods full of apartment buildings, dog owners and dogs.
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Welcome to Les Chiens and les Chats du Paris! The dogs and cats of France. My favorite sign in all of France was this one near the Eiffel tower. Keep your dogs on a leash, regulation. article 8. I love the ornate sign.
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France tidbits

Sorry this is somewhat out of order, I start editing and it's off to the races---stuff winds up all over the country and I hop from a castle to the cops in one fell swoop. Enjoy the ride--and don't forget to click to make the photos bigger--and use your back button to not blow yourself up.

Baron Haussman is the man who rearranged Paris--some say he ruined it some say he saved it, but he landed up in Pere la Chaise either way.
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This is the piece of writing and a butterfly left on Marcel Proust's grave--"Remembrance of Things Past". His magnum opus about nothing much.
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Back to Pere La Chaise-I love this very odd tomb figure. The inscription on it translates to something like "when my life is over our dream together begins."
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