Tuesday, November 18, 2008

"our" Maillot

Sastra in his maillot jaune

Lance in (one of) his many maillot jaunes

One of our passions is cycling (road).  We both have 2 bikes here in France and Bruce has a fixed gear bike back home that he just couldn't sell.  On all of our trips to france in the past 4 years we have brought our bikes.  We find that 1.  it is a great workout, so you can eat croissants and pastries and drink loads of vin de rouge and not gain weight and 2. it's the best way to see a country.  You notice things you'd never notice in a car just driving by.

We are also huge fans of the Tour de France.  Last years tour actually came right through where we are living now and we were sad to think that we missed it. We watched it on television from Los Angeles.  Next years tour will not come near us, so we are going to it.  We have decided to drive south to Marseilles and then down to Perpignan and then over into the Pyrenees.  We are also going to go over to Annecy for the time trial.  Our best friends will be coming over and they are staying in Annecy for a week or so and we'll go see them, see the race and then they'll come over and spend some time with us. That's not until July, which seems so far away.  We miss them terribly!

Ok, what does this have to do with "our" maillot.  During the Tour de France everyone wants to wear "the maillot jaune"...the yellow jersey.  It's coveted by all the riders and the leader of the tour wears the maillot jaune.  It can change from day to day or someone might lead for 5 days and wear the yellow jersey for that whole time.  It's huge if you win a stage and even bigger if you wear the maillot jaune.  For those non-french, you pronounce Maillot (my-o).

So, about 10 days ago Bruce was upstairs drawing and he had the window open.  He heard a cry and then another and he looked out of the window and there was a cat coming out of the woods behind our house.  He called down to me and I went outside and it ran away.  I started calling for it and I would call and it would cry, back and forth.  I brought out some milk and coaxed it out of the woods.  I couldn't touch it, he/she would run away.  But it looked healthy and relatively young.  After it drank the milk it ran away.  We figured it was just passing by.  But the next morning it was out in the woods again crying.  I brought out some tuna and more milk and it came out of the woods and ate.  This went on for about 3 days, morning and evening.  I said to bruce "I think we have a cat!"  We bought some cat food and I finally got to pick HER up.  The dogs weren't too sure about her, since they have never been around cats.

our maillot

Last Thursday she came in the house, pranced right in, rubbed again Dashell's leg and started purring.  Friday we took her to the vet to get checked out.  She is 100% healthy and probably 1 year old.  We got her some flea/tick medicine and brought her back to her new home...a home SHE picked.  We wonder where she came from because our closest neighbor is about 1/2 mile away (and we know them and they didn't have a cat).  

We tried to think of a name for her.  She looks very similar to the cat we had when I was growing up, Mitzi.  But I couldn't name her Mitzi.  We went back and forth and finally Bruce said "what about Maillot", perrrrrfect.   She spends most of her day outside roaming in the woods, laying on the picnic table in the sun, lounging in the meadow or sitting on the rail of the balcony.  At night she now comes in the house since it's really cold out and she's beginning to trust us.  She is still very shy and skittish. I'm not sure she had much contact or love from humans, but she'll get tons from us.


12 comments:

Randal Graves said...

Oh, how groovy is this. We've got a stray we're feeding now, I'd imagine about the same age, and though we haven't been able to get her inside yet, we've set something up in our garage.

Of course, we're in a typically American neighborhood, unlike the open spaces of you guys.

Bruce Anderson said...

that's cool. what's she look like? How long have you been feeding her? And what is her name! I guess there are strays everywhere...although I think Maillot must have come from pretty far away.

Megan said...

She's pretty. But what will you do with her when it is time to leave?
I HATE bike riding. I just cannot figure out all the gears and stuff. Ugh.

And it is Marseille not Marseilles! That drives me nuts. :)

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

she's purty. and now you'll have to stay, furreal!

La Framéricaine said...

Just to keep things friendly:

Marseille (English alternative Marseilles), thank you Wikipedia!

You lovely Maillot (my-yo) is a very pretty cat who looks quite well-cared for. I wouldn't be surprised if someone hasn't put out an Amber Alert for her. Maybe you can share.

My SIL lives out in the woods south of Paris and has been feeding ALL of the feral cats in the region for 20+ years!!! You wouldn't believe what breakfast and dinner look like.

The Tour De France plans sound like something really nice to look forward to. It will be a wonderful treat for both of you to be sur place while all the action is in progress.

Bonne continuation!

Bruce Anderson said...

megan - we haven't thought about that far in advance...who know, maybe we'll have to stay!

Sorry you hate bike riding...hate is such a strong word though, maybe dislike? Maybe you should just get a bike with 1 gear!

Geez Megan, take it easy on the correction. You are not french and not born in Marsaille, so give me a break! Back when you were in American you might have put an s on the end too once!

Bruce Anderson said...

njnrr - maybe we will....she might have come into our lives to make us stay - forever!

Bruce Anderson said...

lf - thanks for the correction too...geeze.
We asked around and nobody seems to know who she is...probably a barn cat that was just fed up.
we are excited about the tour, we are also going to see all the spring classics -

Randal Graves said...

White, though more cream colored, with light brown spots and eyes slanted at the angle of yours.

We've been feeding her for a couple of weeks, and almost got her in the house, but she's still a bit shy. It was a good sign that the stray we brought in last year seems to be friendly.

Our kids named her Tora, Japanese for Tiger, since they're trying to teach themselves Japanese.

Betty Carlson said...

That is one adorable cat and one darling name. "Maillot" sounds a little like "meow" too...

Katherine Dunn/Apifera Farm said...

I think it's wonderful you helped the cat. Semi ferel or born in a house, kittens don't last long in the woods. And if you have to move, I'm sure you'll make a right decision on how to place her in a home.

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