I snapped this shot of a petite pooch at the market on Sunday. It is for me a typical scene of French life.
Little dogs go just about everywhere with their owners in France, and well-behaved pets are welcome in most restaurants and many shops. This miniature Pinscher breed is a popular choice, along with the poodle, the Yorkshire and the Jack Russell. French bulldogs are slowly gaining ground in France now that they’ve become so popular in the U.S.
I suppose this very French version of the ‘doggy bag’ makes a lot of sense in crowded public places. Little dogs like this can easily get stepped on, and crowds must be terrifying for them.
‘Aller au marché’, to go shopping at the open-air market, is a regular Sunday morning pilgrimage for many French people, who often go together as families, taking their time and strolling along the crowded stalls. This is frustrating for type-A people like myself. I just want to zip-in and zip-out with as much fresh produce as I can carry and in as short a time as possible. My husband only goes on pain of starvation and we are both way too impatient in crowds.
I can think of nothing more stressful than bringing our two French bulldogs to the market. Unfortunately they are too big for a shopping bag – although I’m sure they’d be delighted to take away a doggy bag with some of this cheese.
How about you? Do you like open-air markets, with or without pet or partner?
FranceSays 
i was just thinking that if pet means fart in french than your heading reads to a frenchman farts to take away… haha
So true….along with the stinky cheese!
Dogs don’t seem to enjoy the market. They get stepped on. They get run into by caddies. They want to go off in one direction when the owner goes in the other. Same with kids. Both are best left at home. Though with kids, you’ll get in trouble if you leave them alone, so sometimes they have to come along, like it or not.
Yes, much better to leave the animals and kidlets home, assuming someone is there to babysit! Come to think of it, maybe we could train our pets to babysit?
That would be the cat’s meow.
😀
Pets in the outdoor markets, I can come at. Pets in restaurants is still a contradiction for me.
I’m fine with pets in restaurants, as long as they are on the floor. Seeing a dog lapping a dish of fromage blanc from its old matron’s plate in Paris once seemed a bit much!
Very civilized , taking dogs to restaurants is one of the best French customs
Agree, as long as the owners are considerate. Lately I’ve seen a large dog lying across the aisle while the wait staff have to carefully step over it with hot dishes – an accident waiting to happen.
I love open-air markets and missed them dearly since we have moved back to Montreal. There are a few markets but nothing to compare to the quality of those found in France. (Suzanne)
Oh, and dogs aren’t allowed in markets here…supposedly for hygienic reasons!
Sounds about as silly as the French rule about no bathing trunks (caleçon de bain) in public swimming pools. 😉 By the way, happy Canada Day!
Excuse me, how about a dachshund? You forgot them! Un teckel, as they call it in France. Very popular.
Right you are! Don’t know how I forgot them, husband’s family had a lovely long-haired teckel called Lara. Thanks for the reminder!
I love my market, and I’m there every Sunday morning. I also love the almost uniformly well-behaved French dogs. Tons of French bulldogs in Paris, by the way. They look like great apartment dogs…
I do love the market and try to go regularly, but I must admit there is a lot of competition for my Sunday mornings! I guess even the doggy fashion crazes start in Paris – and here in the Haute Savoie with so many internationals they are also the latest thing. Mostly they are great apartment dogs, although they snore so loudly you need a room with a door that closes if you want to sleep in peace!
chez nous, le marché du village se tient samedi-matin… 🙂 but I haven’t seen French bulldogs, yet… the cutie in your photo is what we’d call “un chien de poche” – la bonne taille pour l’emmener partout, as my hubby says… 🙂
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bonne journée et une excellente fin de semaine, sweet lady MELewis! ❤
Lucky you, Mélanie, I would be so delighted if it were on Saturday morning, but alas….in our parts I’m just glad to have the market at all, with such a superior choice of fresh produce compared to what we find in the stores. Chien de poche – that’s a new one, merci! Très bon weekend pour toi, ma belle! 🙂
I’m trying to imagine two bulldogs stuffed in shopping bags. It’s quite a funny image!
Ha, ha! Mine just snorted at the idea. 😉
I’m happy to see dogs most places…as long as they don’t poop inside! When we were in Rome, the little dachshund was the favoured pooch.
Interesting, who would have thought a German breed would be so popular in Italy? When I was there lately, in the south, it was the Heinz 57 type of terrier that seemed most common!
I nipped into the Market on Friday to buy the tiniest amount and say hello to the stallholders who are so much part of my French life. They were all terribly sad that l’haricot (The Bean) had not made the trip this time … she loves a market and is never alarmed knowing as she does that it is a temple of all that she loves in life – cheese, meat, charcuterie – not so keen on the veg and clothes but tolerates my need to visit all stalls 😀
The Bean strikes me as a quintessentially French canine. She is willing to put up with the stress of all those people in order to enjoy the exposure to the things she (and her maitresse) loves. Happy you made it back for even a brief visit!
Got it in one!
Our teckel loves being amongst people. It’s the getting him there that is the issue. He hates to get in the car. (We think maybe some trauma in his earlier life, avant nous). I wish we could sometimes put him in a bag, but alas he is a standard size dachshund, and weighs in at a muscular 13kg.
We’ve always been lucky in having dogs who love the car, but I can sympathize with having to live with a past trauma. I also confirm that 13 kgs is far too heavy to carry! (Our Frenchies weigh in around 11 kgs each….). Hefty Teckel!