Still, there was no trace of the joyous hymns that usually echoed in the halls and everybody felt the heavy air, laden with a palpable sense of unease. In the center of it all, Santa sat silently, nervously taking out his mobile phone from time to time and grunting while he was reading.

The man’s best friend holds an important place in the French culture and that is reflected in the French sayings about dogs that reached us across the centuries.