The Naming of Cats is a Difficult Matter*

Not much to blog about today, besides the fact that I'm quite full from eating some of the most famous bread in the world. So I took a look at my photo archives, and I noticed some themes popping up in my amateur photography: rose bushes, bathroom fixtures, and ... CATS! Without further ado, the cats of Paris.

This here is Butters; he kept me company when I lunched on rabbit a while back on the Ile-St. Louis. He refused a front-facing photo because he swears he looks better in florescent light.

I met Simon, above, when I was strolling through the streets of Auvers-sur-Oise yesterday. While settled at the bar counter in Le Comptoir, we shared stories and a pichet of merlot (vintage Margeaux, 1976). Turns out Simon's claim to fame was that he inspired the character of the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees in Andrew Lloydd Weber's moody musical, Cats. He called for another round after grumbling something about never getting those promised front row tickets. Probably should've cut him off when he tried to show me one of his magic tricks (pulling a coin out of my ear didn't go over well, as you can imagine, since it's pretty hard to handle a coin without posable thumbs).

And here's Heathcliff, who I also ran into in Auvers. He declined to join Simon and me for a drink, so I don't know much of his back story.

And since I didn't have fast enough reflexes to whip out my camera, I had to settle for taking a "mental picture" of the man walking his cat, who I saw from the window of the airport bus into the city. Let me repeat: he was walking his cat. On a leash. And this was my first introduction to Paris. The cat's name was probably something like Pierre, and he probably would like you to know that he was actually taking his "owner" for a walk, and not the other way around.

*It isn't just one of your holiday games. You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter when I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES! (I was too lazy/uncreative to think up three).