Sunday, January 17, 2010

Weekend fun in the Bois de Boulogne

Days of freezing rain finally let up - yeilding a deep blue morning sky.

Trying to make good on a long overdue promise Dad and Graham set off to do reconnaissance on the Eiffel Tower, a trip that had failed spectacularly on the last two attempts due to logistical breakdowns and surprise crowds.

This time the logistics were fine, the crowds were limited, and the top of the tower was closed for another three weeks...

Moving to plan B -our clothes horse (Eli) went out to shop with Mom, while the rest of the men took the dogs to the nearby Bois de Boulogne (parisian equivalent of central park) to enjoy the relative warm. Apparently the dogs were excited by the good weather also, and even more enthusiastic about greeting the many other dogs - and managed to knock down both Lincoln and Graham in the process. When we arrived at the dog park we let them off leash and had a good game of chase which lasted perhaps thirty seconds. At that point Cameron (the daughter - almost a year old now) - noticed another labrador playing far far away at the edge of the large duck pond.

In a signature flash of black and pink (her harness) - she covered the 200 yards or so like a cheetah, finishing the charge with a nice dive into the still half frozen duck pond. Excited well beyond the point of being subject to reason, I paced the perimeter listening to snippets of amused conversation from dozens of amused bystanders about the "duck hunter" - "adventuresome lab" the "very warm blooded and persisten dog" etc. etc. while she swam back and forth for fifteen minutes somehow hoping to surprise the fowl... When she finally heeded one of my calls and came out she was cold and contrite, but too happy for me to be genuinely mad at her.

Once she was recovered we set off for home, both dogs dutifully trotting alongside, while Lincoln veered off on his scooter to explore the play equipment... and so goes a day at the park


Graham chasing Cameron


View of still unscaled Eiffel Tower from the park


Boys and dogs at a calm moment


The Duck Hunter at work






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