Mon Chat Pitre: the bookshop in Provence where you can read books in the company of cats rescued from shelters

3 min read

2 years ago Adam

You know what a good book goes great with?
A cup of tea…coffee…a sweet dessert…and even cats!
And if you like this option, this new bookstore in Aix-en-Provence, France, is all you need.

It’s called Mon Chat Pitre, opened its doors in June of this year, 2021, and it has already become somewhat of a local attraction in Aix-en-Provence and beyond, especially among cat lovers.
Despite It has a good selection of books to choose from, what really sets it apart from other bookstores in the city, or anywhere else in France for that matter, is the decor: as you walk around the bookstore looking for your next read, you have the opportunity, nay, the privilege, to stroke six adorable felines that love nothing more than to lay on the books and enjoy visitors’ attention.

Founded by a couple of television journalists, Solène Chavanne and Jean-Philippe Doux, who share a passion for reading and for cats, Mon Chat Pitre was designed to be a place where bookworms could come pick their next book while getting some good vibes and brightening up their day with some help from the six adopted cats.
Although it has only been open for less than five months, Mon Chat Pitre it has already become a favorite destination of cat lovers and, if people will sometimes walk in on the pretext of looking for a book, all they want is to interact with the purring cats.
The six cats that call Mon Chat Pitre home have all been adopted by the founders from a local shelter, and they are not looking for a new home.
However, Solène and Jean-Philippe consider their felines ambassadors for other abandoned cats, so if anyone comes in, interacts with them, and decides that they need a new friend in their lives, they are more than welcome to visit the local shelters to adopt one of the thousands of cats hosted that are just waiting to be adopted.
In fact, this bookshop has decided to open its doors to felines also because France holds the sad European record in the abandonment of pets and with even more serious peaks in the summer.

And don’t worry: Mon Chat Pitre is the ideal bookstore for cat lovers but, modeled on the many cat cafes around the world, it has set up a space totally for cats. To make sure that the felines are never too stressed by their human fans, they have their very own retreat at the back of the shop, where visitors aren’t allowed to enter, and where they have litter boxes, kibbles, and their beds.
So, if they ever get bored of humans, they can just leave.

“Sometimes there are cats running around, but otherwise it’s really a very quiet place,” explains Jean-Philippe.
And other initiatives have already been announced from the bookstore: “Soon we will set up cat writing, reading, poetry, drawing and yoga workshops … the cat is a source of infinite inspiration.’Time spent with a cat is never wasted’ wrote Colette. And that’s exactly how it is”.

Thus, if you’re ever in Aix-en-Province and want to visit a unique bookstore, make sure to drop by Mon Chat Pitre.
It is located at 13 Rue de Montigny, in the historic center of the city.