Five-star luxury for pampered pooches in Paris

You know the world has quite literally gone barking mad when special accommodation is on offer for Man's Best Friend, often more luxurious and sumptuous than living conditions for those of us with only two legs.

Such is the case of the recently-opened Actuel Dogs hôtel in the suburbs of Paris which, as its name suggests, is exclusively for guests of the four-legged kind.

With just six rooms it could perhaps be described as a "canine boutique hôtel" and has been inspired by similar set-ups in the United States and Japan.

Ulysse, one of the guests at Actuel Dogs (screenshot from Agence France Presse video report)

It's the brainchild of animal behaviourist Stan Burin and his wife Dévi, who wanted to offer dog owners a place to leave their pets while they went out to work.

"We started out from the principle that dog owners were looking for something other than kennels," Dévi, told RTL radio.

"What we're offering in a sense is a pet-sitting or foster service if you like, except we've pushed the concept a little further," she continued.

"Rather than introducing the animal into a setting intended essentially for humans we've created an environment specifically aimed at the well-being of the dog."

What exactly that implies is explained by taking a look at the hôtel's website to discover what owners - or should that be their furry friends - are getting for their euros.

There's a games room, a heated swimming pool, a massage room, bathroom, single rooms and suites and à la carte menus.

And that's not all. The hôtel is close to one of the city's major parks, the Bois de Vincennes, and takes full advantage of its location by offering individual or group "doggy walks", the more physically exerting "doggy jogg" as well as "doggy rando" or hiking and "doggy vélo" where your four-legged friend can enjoy running alongside a bicycle.

Although Dévi insists that the hôtel isn't exclusively for dogs whose owners have deeper-than-average pockets, such luxury of course has its price.

Half-day board starts at €26, while full-day during the week begins at €35 for a standard room and €45 for a suite and that includes two walks and "unlimited access to the games room."

Owners can also keep track of how their pets are faring in pooch paradise by webcam or email.

And whoever said it's a dog's life?

Woof!

Panicking ponies join busy Paris traffic

Now here's a sight you don't see every day in Paris - thank goodness.



And one motorists on the boulevard périphérique, the busy ring road around the French capital, probably had a hard time believing: riderless ponies galloping through the traffic.

It happened on Saturday afternoon as some children were out riding ponies belonging to the Cartoucherie equestrian centre located next to the Bois de Vincennes in the east of Paris.

They - the ponies that is - were suddenly startled and hurtled off to join the traffic as this amateur video, featured on the website of the national daily edition of Le Parisien - Aujourd'hui en France, shows.

Des poneys en cavale sur l'A4 et le périph parisien
par thony911

"Some cars arrived that were driving too fast and sounded their horns," Raphaël Mollion, the director of the centre said.

"One of the ponies took fright and started the stampede with the others following."

In total eight ponies threw their riders and headed off into the distance towards the busy boulevard périphérique, some making it as far as to a stretch of one of the motorways leading into Paris - the A4.

While several of the panicking ponies were rounded up quite quickly, others eluded police and firefighters for nearly two hours before they too ended their dalliance with delights of Paris traffic - and French drivers - and were caught.

"It could all have ended very differently," admitted Mollion.

"None of the children who fell off the ponies was hurt, and neither were any of the ponies."