Just outside of the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris a beautiful café, called Le Metivier, stands in stark contrast to the dreary, yet romantic home for many well-known deceased Parisiennes.

In 2002, hungry after a wander through the cemetery my parent’s brother and I stopped here for lunch. We selected a table near the front of the bistro, near the large windows, to watch the world go by. There, next to us was an elderly woman, sharing her lunch with her equally elder black dog. Our conversation began with a smile, first at the small dog and then at her. She spoke no English, and I speak very little French, but that did not matter, we spoke through the entire meal. Picking up bits and pieces about one another’s pets. I did not understand everything she told me and vice-versa, but it did not matter.

There we learned one of life’s valuable lessons, that cute dogs are a universal love language, providing a link between us, even when we cannot understand one another.

This kindhearted old woman, with her little dog, SHE is Paris to me.