Her book is a good size to browse through in one sitting but also absorbing enough to gently place a bookmark and look forward to returning to.

 

Alongside the pleasure of looking at French dogs and cats, village homes and chateaus open their doors to allow Rachael to capture their pets at home. From Tchipie the golden retriever from Chateau de Varenne, who greets her guests at the front steps to stray kittens lured out into the dappled sunlight in rural villages to have their images captured.

 

Each book will take you to France and make you want to stop awhile and enjoy the company of these little ones.

 

Her photos capture France itself – the mist, the light, nature, architecture, and people interacting with their animals.

 

I particularly liked the huge variety of unusual (to me...) pet names – oh how I wish to have a cat called Myrtille, or a dog called Poupoune, Frisée, Aslan or Emoi…I related to the love these pet owners had for their little ones and I felt a connection to them across the miles.

 

I had also never considered the dogs that French has given us all – The Pyrenean, French Briard, Pomeranian, Poodle and Brittany spaniels.

 

And the quotes…

“Dogs delight in being the centre of attention” (too true…)

“The cat is a dilettante in fur” (Theophile Gautier)

“The best thing about a man is his dog” (French proverb… true again...)

“The cat is a drawing-room tiger” (Victor Hugo)