Dog days

Or, more accurately, French dogs' days.

OK, so I'm a dog person. I know not everybody is, but I find that very often dogs are preferable to humans so I am. But to get to the point. The French seem, in general, to treat their dogs in two distinctly different ways. In the country, especially on farms, they are often kept outside and usually chained up although they are sometimes kept in a cage-like pen or run. Just how often these creatures are allowed to run across the fields or through the woods is something I have never been able to find out, but as they seem to be kept mainly as guard dogs, I suspect that their exercise is severely limited.

Things tend to be different in the towns, where most of the dogs are small and are allowed everywhere. It is not unusual to see them in clothes shops (Who on earth would want to take a dog with them when they are shopping for clothes?) or even restaurants. Which brings me (finally) to the point. While eating at Buffalo Grill in Calais last Saturday, we spotted three people with a dog in a nearby booth. Two people were sitting on the banquette on one side of the table, the third person was on the banquette opposite - with the dog sitting up to the table beside her. What's more, she was feeding the dog some of her dessert, an ice-cream-sundae-type of confection. And nobody thought this the least bit unusual. Now that really does take the biscuit to my way of thinking.