BEFORE:
AFTER:
One of the things about Paris is the number of tourist gimmicks around. Guys with rings of Eiffel Tower souvenirs ready to sell, Guys with shell games on the go, Artists ready to paint your portrait or cut your silhouette, Kids pretending to be deaf and mute and wanting you to make a donation, Musicians playing with their hats at their feet, People holding photos of their family and just begging. Everyone has an angle to fit the stereotype: Eiffel Tour, beret, scarf. (Never mind we only saw 4 people in berets the whole time we were in France).
When I groomed ‘Scruffy Mutt OJ’ after his couple of weeks in the kennel and transformed him into ‘Continental OJ’ with some semblance of poodle panache, it occured to me that he could garner me some money in Paris. If I took him out walking in the park at the Eiffel Tower, I’m sure I could get at least 2 Euro (and maybe more) from tourists who wanted to pose with him with the Tower in the background. 200 Euro a day, say, for letting people stand beside him and snap a photo with their own camera. What a great stereotype! I might be able to pay for our trip that way. Too bad I didn’t think of it before we went!
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(PS. Just an FYI- this is technically a “Historically Correct Continental” which has a much short jacket and topknot than you see in the big hair show cuts. This is the serviceable version, and closer to the origins as a hunting cut for the water retrievers to go into the water to get the ducks, with the hair covering the joints, but the back shaved to make swimming easier. In OJ’s case, the shaved parts are done with a 15 blade, rather than a 30 or 40 so it’s not bare skin. As well, since I’m not a pro groomer and I rarely play with this clip, I never seem to get the shape of the jacket quite right! Getting closer, but still not quite perfect…)
And for fun- here’s OJ being a “French Poodle” for Hallowe’en a few years ago…
Shawn L. Bird 