A Noble Beast...

It appears that the freedom to indulge in any kind of travel or wandering - aimless or aimful - is coming to a momentary halt; Covid again. Expecting that life in France might follow suit, I decided to make the most of being free and went off to Versailles this week to see an exhibition on Royal Animals in Art. As you can well imagine, most of the animals concerned were for hunting purposes - either acting as prey or predator - but all as trophy beasts for the king. And then we have Le Général, as above. Hmmmm... This fine specimen belonged to Louis XV who, unlike his great grandfather Louis XIV, had somewhat of a soft spot for felines. Despite his military name, Le Général seems rather unsure of his status and even less sure as to what should be done with his quarry. He looks positively traumatised at the prospect of having to do anything other than strike a martial pose that is not, if truth be told, entirely convincing! However, for an almost 300-year-old beast, he is as noble and endearing as any of his descendants today, in France or further afield.