Dog Day Afternoon . . .

It was thanks to Laurie's blog Creating Pictures In My Mind and her recent post about the Paris Dog Cemetery (Le Cimetière des Chiens) in Asnières, just outside of Paris that I decided on Friday to get up out of this seat in front of the computer and go see some of the real world again. Packing some dried figs, apricots, and dates for lunch and a bottle of iced tea, I set out into the wilds of the northern suburbs of Paris. . . armed only with a camera. In case you are not aware, the northern suburbs of Paris are not much safer than Somalia at present, so yes, you can admire my bravery for embarking on such an expedition without bodyguards or other forms of protection.
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The Dog Cemetery, which is a bit of a misnomer, as it looked to me as though there are just as many cats as there are dogs interred there, as well as a smattering of monkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, and other assorted wildlife, is a haven of peace along a bend of the Seine River. I spent a couple of very enchanting hours there reading the inscriptions on stones and photographing some of the more pittoresque among the myriad animal memorial monuments. There are no end of touching testimonials from bereaved owners to their departed companions. One stone bore the message : "Deceived by humans, but never by my dog".
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All sorts of decorations adorned the graves, from austere sculptures, to photographic portraits of the animal, or even material objects to accompany the canine or feline spirit into the underworld or afterlife. One particularly poignant example were the tennis balls in a glass globe shown below here. . . I will be posting more photos from the Dog Cemetery soon, but wanted to get at least this much out tonight.
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