And We Shall Shop say L&P: Momo Get that Credit Card Out

Once upon a time, Momo had a dream. When she learned the Momo family would be going to France, she had numerous fantasies about French couture for the L&P. She dreamed of finding new and exciting toys and stuffies for the L&P. She imagined all the new collars and leads in beautiful French fabrics and ribbons for L&P.

Before even leaving for France, Momo tried very hard to look for stores in Paris that would carry these lovely things. Momo had lots of trouble, not only with the language and the French yellow pages, but with even asking French people where she might find such things. No one knew. And the logic of the French yellow pages was, well, French. If you know anything about French logic, it is not American, nor European. It is just French. The French understand it just fine. Nothing wrong with it, but often the French yellow pages were harder to decode than the literal translation of anything French.

So the task became part of the adventure. Momo must find the couture and the jouets for doggies. It was apparent it would have to wait until the Momo family arrived in Paris. It should be easy then because, well, the French love the dogs, do they not?

At our itty bitty apartment hotel, we asked the desk staff. They scratched their heads. Stores for dogs? La chien? Ooo la la. What an idea. They must peruse the French yellow pages. Good, Momo thought. They are French. They will understand the logic. Or so I was hoping.

Jouet for chien. Sadly, the results were not good. Toys r Us. What? Didn't we leave America? And wait. One more. The Disney store on Champ Elysees of all places. Again, (Jon Stewart moment) WHAT???? Ah, yes, it was the Jouet that was confusing. Toys. The French online yellow pages ignored chien and went with toys. Well, I guess that was odd logic, but logic nonetheless. Ignore one word and search for the other. Apparently the words in the search were a guideline. So very French.

Next we tried chien. Oh oh. Washing dogs and cats. Toilet stuff for dogs and cats. Dogs and cats. Services (not to be confused with stuff) for dogs, cats. Mon Dieu. Nothing. Not one Pets r Us.

Luckily, Galleries Lafayette had a small section for the pets. But what they had would make Target blush. A few toys, some really dumb collars and a few balls. They had bowls, but bowls were not our problem. Oh, and one type of tee shirt with some stupid logo on it for 40E. Yes, 40E which is about $50. Even Momo would not pay $50 for a dog tee. Momo is a little bit touched when it comes to L&P, but not that crazy. Even L&P thought that was stupid. They would rather have the equivalent in croissants, thank you. Can you imagine at .80 per, how many croissants they could eat for 40E? Piggies.

Then we accidentally found Pinceloup on a stroll to Notre Dame. There we were able to spend only 250E on two sets of matching collar/leads, a puppia look alike harness, and a couple of toys. And the collars buckle like the old fashioned stuff so they aren't going to be able to be used for everyday (you want the snap buckle for safety). Ah yes, Momo was desperate. However, L&P had a great time in the store, as you can see from the photo, and enjoyed visiting with Maude, her dog and her husband. Although a little air conditioning would be good. Stores just are not air conditioned much in France and this one, not at all, and such a hot day, even the L&P were sweating.

That should have sufficed, but we had no new couture, and those collars were not exactly the ones. Momo quickly went to the internet and ordered from Zoe's Collection so that at least when L&P arrived home, they would have some lovely collars awaiting them. Just plugging Zoe's Collection. If you need some very nice collars, that's the place to go.

By now, L&P were looking quite frayed without new collars or tee shirts. We looked and looked. We even made a few special trips on the Metro to a couple of places that sounded promising on the website from again, the French yellow pages, but it was in French, and Momo still cannot translate all that well. Turns out one place was a chien beauty parlor and they had three collars and some bows. Hello, Fifi? The next place was a shoe closet and they had a few toys that one gets in places like Petco, at home, that sell for an American dollar. One. American dollar. Here, they cost 10E. Or so the nice man said as he emerged from his residence to the dog store closet with his lunch napkin still tucked into this shirt. Oops.

Sadly, Momo was about to give up. Good thing we had packed a few toys and clothes. France was chilly and P began learning all about de-stuffing stuffies. Things were getting tense as the toy supply suddenly dwindled. Momo called upon her peeps from Woofboard.com, fellow BT buddies, and the ideas for homemade toys flew off the pages. But it wasn't they same. And L&P knew it. Ok, Momo knew it. L&P merely cared about the daily croissant bag. Frankly, Momo thought they might have been a little obsessed.

Fortunately there was a store at the end of the number 14 Metro, Momo's favorite Metro train, at Bercy Village called Animalis. Momo again did a bad job translating and assumed this was a boring dog supply store. That was correct, slightly. Only the supply was real dogs, cats, birds, and the assorted rat like creatures. Dilemma. In America, it is very bad karma to frequent a facility that sells the actual chien. Those poor dogs are typically from puppy mills and we do not want to encourage or support any business that does that. But here we were, 6000 miles from home and we have had no luck with the acquisition of toys. And the supplies were running low.

The first time Momo went to Bercy and found the store she could not bring herself to buy anything there. The second time she went, it was with freshly dyed hair, sunglasses and a costume that she would never ordinarily wear, not black. She quickly made her way into the store and secured a load of stuffies and other toys and paid for her purchase in cash, wracked with guilt, but knowing that L&P would benefit. Turns out, bad karma is bad karma. Should have just followed the rules. The toys lasted less than one day. P had honed her seam ripping skills and mercilessly de-stuffed all of the new toys within hours. The only thing remaining was, uh, Daffy Duck. Yes, Daffy Duck. Daffy even made it back to America.

Momo could say that the quality of those stuffies was lacking. But since being home, P has amassed a large looming pile of destroyed stuffies and well, it could be she just was beginning her spree in France. The second photo actually shows her serious remorse. Of course the remorse could simply be a demonstration of her unhappiness learning that she could not destuff them fully because they were removed from the toy box forever and on the way to the garbage. P seems to mean no harm, but apparently de-stuffing is just in her nature. Poor L. She will have to learn to keep her stuffies behind locked glass.

Camonix is another story. In Chamonix you will find a store called Cham Dog. While Cham Dog has the beauty parlor room, it also has a sizable section for dog jackets and toys and some very interesting collars and leads. The Momo family made good use of that store and many of those jouets have come home with us to America where they are still whole. That would include, and picked out by L&P, one large rubber chicken as in roasted chicken. One chicken like figure with a belt on it, and several little squeaky toys that amuse them for hours. Not one stuffie. Good thing too. I am not sure it would have survived. We also were able to get L&P new winter jackets just in case it would snow in CA in the bay area. They are made for the snow country in Chamonix, but they will suffice for here. After all, a California winter can be harsh-like if you have a hairless belly. That was a very enjoyable store and the dogs in Chamonix seemed very happy. They must like that store too.

So Momo spent an entire year's couture and toy budget in two stores in France on L&P. With the unfortunate George-Bush-Dollar against the Euro, Momo spent way too much dinero. But what they heck. When you see that rubber chicken being tossed about by a happy happy L&P, it is worth it.

Can you just picture the x-ray people at the airport looking at our bags? Never mind the baggage handler when they tossed the bag. A symphony of various squeaks. That should have been amusing, or quite scary.

L&P rate the two dog stuff stores a big 10. They got plenty of treats from the store clerks. Funny, they didn't mind that they weren't croissants. Momo rates the shops a little bitty 5 because they were too expensive. And the others don't even get a mention - well, they get a mention, but a bah humbug one. So, if you take your Fifi to Paris, bring the toys with you as well as your own couture. Of course, there are always the croissants.