SONIA RYKIEL at H&M!

Looking at these brilliantly colored macarons...
Reminds me of Sonia Rykiel's fashions. I used to wear her exclusively back in the day when she was affordable...
Manana I'll be on the Sonia bus
Rushing to H&M to catch a few affordable Sonias!!!
I have my eye on a few pieces-heck I'm going to the bank with a big garbage bag first...

I still have a tiny bag with these stripes I bought in the CDG airport a few years ago...

Looks just like these macarons non?

I had BIG plans to lose a few before H&M's sale...hmmm

The best laid plans of mice and girls oft go awry...

Translation:I ate too many macarons :(

La regime commence demain!!!

I hope I get a few bites tomorrow...of the Sonias I mean.

Will you be there?
BONJOUR SONIA at H&M!

Ville Lumière

Have you ever gone to Paris... And not taken dozens of pictures... Of the fabulous street lamps? Fortunately they haven't changed much...

Since the days when first installed in 1820, though there's no longer a streetlighter to put in the gas...

I took a closer look...

When I was painting Ben and his cat at Cartier...

The basic design seems to...

Originate...

From your everyday candlelabra. Brilliant!

I hope Paris never switches to these new-fangled horrors - more historic info at Peter's Paris.
BONJOUR Ville Lumiere!

Parting Shots at WKC

The final evening of Westminster I am up in the boonies.It's a black tie event so the closest I can get a shot is from the peanut gallery At last all the photographers get a chance to shoot WKC winner, Sadi, the Scottish Terrier. It's a football scrimmage-pandemonium reigns.Somehow I manage to squeeze in for a shot

But no one is there to throw the squeeky carrot toy to get the hound's attention.

The dog does nothing. WKC maestro, David Frei steps in to help with props - ribbon + winner's bowl...

Still nuttin' honey.

The pros are shouting at the dog,

"I have a deadline to meet! DO SOMETHING!"

Neither the Sadi, her owner or handler have seen the movie, Best in Show!

With a record 100 Best in Shows under her belt, you'd think Sadie was ready for the big moment? Every other dog at WKC is.

Finally.

Time to pack up and head home.

BONJOUR SADIE!

Silly Dog Pictures

You want to dress appropriately at the WKC show.
Someone is certain Sadie, the Scottie is going to win...
Matching your Weimaraner is a good idea...
Or just wear your dog...
I made the mistake of mentioning to this handler she had a clothes tag hanging out...
Not at all. That was the strategically-placed tail end of her muzzle-wiping rag...
The dogs are busy socializing too...
Up in the Press Room I got to meet Ron Trotta and Schmitty, Real New Yorkie, who reports the latest poop on the weather on her very own blog!

Brought by special request - a macaron-eating Peke a Japanese Chin...

A Cavalier King Charles...

The Borzois and I are just plain dog-tired...

We were happy to get home last night at midnight after the final Best in show judging - a mini report to follow and then back to Paris and perfume. I need some badly.

Out, out doggie sawdust smell!

BONJOUR ALL PB DOGS!

Westminster Dog Show

It's impossible to show you everything going on at the Westminster Kennel Club show on the first day, so I'll focus on 1-2 judgings in the ring of the Herding group. There are 4 rings of judging going on at once. I have a press pass so I can go almost anywhere.

But the guard mistakenly lets me into an exclusive area for only purple cards, so I get some wonderful closeups of these magnificent Briards - a French herding breed. Like I said, being around these beauties, one's brain is reduced to mush and the most dreadful cliches, so please excuse.
Look! Feets of perfection The future prize winner says, "Hi"
Poetry in motion. The dogs are constantly primped as they wait their turn to show. They are constantly fed treats too, so they'll take the perfect stance with head raised etc...

Getting down on all fours is the norm if one hair is out of place. There's a lot of spritzing going on with water bottles to get those hairs to do the right thing. A hind leg is deftly arranged to best advantage...

The handler hids doggie snacks in her cheeks.

Professional handlers are usually dressed in brightly colored suits that contrast nicely with the dog shown. This is a Belgian sheepdog, another herding group, like my Rudi, so they're hard to resist...

In the dog show, you get 2 minutes in front of the judge at the breed level, 2 minutes in front of the judge at the group level and 2 minutes at Best in Show. You have to impress 3 different judges. You have to hope your dog has its proper moments of divine inspiration in front of each of those judges.

The winner in the Belgians is

And the winning Briard.

These two will compete against each other and all the other BIB-Best in Breed in the evening competition and that winner will go on to compete Tuesday night for BIS-Best in Show.
Some WKC show numbers:

Nearly 2500 dogs of 150 breeds compete in the134th WKC show

In 7 categories over 2 days.

And the 7 categories are:

toy, hound, sporting, non-sporting, working, terrier, herding groups
Terriers have won 44 out of 100 recent Best in Show Awards.

This year, the top dog slated to win is a Scottish Terrier named Sadie. She won Best in Show at the National Dog Show. That was Sadie's 100th career Best in Show, which is a the landmark.

I haven't seen Sadie yet.

An update here:

A funny informative book on what it takes to win at WM (Westminster) is Jane and Michael Stern's Dog Eat Dog.

Well I loved it.

BONJOUR BRIARDS!