By Marianne Schwab | Best Travel Deals Tips Blog

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Cats in France

Fun Photos of Furry Feline Faces

Since I love cats and dogs, I'm always thrilled to meet foreign felines in my travels and cats in France seem to be a natural sighting. The French are known for their love of cats and no matter where you travel in the country, you will find the Théophile Steinlen's 1896 advertisement of Du Chat Noir in the form of posters and refrigerator magnets in almost any shop where souvenirs are sold. This iconic rendition of a French black cat was originally designed as an advertisement for a tour of the Du Chat Noir's troup of cabaret entertainers.

The last time I was on a Europe vacation, I toured the South of France and visited some of the Luberon villages, Nice, Ville Franche and the adjacent principality of Monaco.

I saw many cats in France on my visit in the small villages and cities. Some were obliging and posed for a photo where others were, well, more "cat-like" and elusive. They did not appreciate the paparazzi stalking them for a photo and thought perhaps I should read "their book" -- The Complete French for Cats.

A friend of mine got this adorable book for me, The Complete French for Cats, by Henry Beard about twenty years ago. It is a perfect pairing of cattitude and the famous French attitude.

The book is "narrated by a French cat," has all the appropriate French translations and is most entertaining. By reading it you will learn when your cat meows, it means...:

"Hello." Bonjour.

"I am hungry." J'ai faim.

"I want food in my bowl now." Je veux qu'on remplisse mon bol tout de suite.

"I am not dying-do not put that goo on my food."
Je ne suis pas en train de mourir-ne mettez pas cette chose gluante sur ma nourriture.

So with no further adieu, here are some of the furry feline faces of cats in France that I captured on camera during my visit and the results of my stalking cats in France for some meowy-memorable photos.

I took the above photo with my Blackberry since all of my batteries were dead by the time I got back to Villa Franche in the evening. For the record, I always travel with three fully charged batteries for my digital camera, but it had been a busy day of shooting in many locations that day.

When I saw this scene and "le chat noir" on the village walkway, it was the quintessential photo of Du Chat Noir. Since it was a black cat and I shot this with a Blackberry camera, the cat's facial features are not easy to see, so it looks more silhouetted against the backdrop of cobblestones.

In the charming village of Roussillon, I met this wonderful tuxedo kitty hanging out on the bench in front of this building. He had a "French" mustache (as you can see in his close-up below.) This is one of the cats in France that was the most friendly. He was also very playful and he almost seemed to pose for the photo below.

I met several cats in the tiny French Luberon village of Lourmarin and they all seemed quite disturbed that I wanted to snap their photo on a rainy Saturday morning. The cat below has a look on her furry feline face as if she's telling me off...but in French, of course.

Lourmarin's second feline I stalked looked very much like his French cat cousin from Roussillon, but was not nearly as friendly. I have several snaps of this cat, but he was camera shy and tried to escape the inconvenience of the paparazzi.

Have you met cats in France or other foreign lands and managed to snap a photo? I'd love for you to share them here (under comments) and do tell me a story about your trip and meeting your foreign feline (feel free to translate the "meows").

More of a dog person? I love dogs too and I met some amazing dogs living among the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii. I think you'll like these dogs too.

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