The Adventures of Vince the Cat - Vince Goes to Paris

Vince Goes to Paris, is the first in a series of books to inspire children to learn new languages. The story subtly introduces children to the wonderful French language. Basic words and phrases are included within the story as well as more complex sentence structures introducing different verb tenses.

While children were outside hunting for Easter eggs on a bright Easter Sunday morning, something magical was going on in the cupboard under the stairs at grandma’s house.

Misty, a lovely calm and purry tortoiseshell cat was having her kittens. The last of four kittens to be born that day was a very special little grey and white kitten.

As his mother licked him, purring while she did, nestled into a box which Grandma had lined with an old curtain especially for Misty and her kittens.

Grandma had a granddaughter called Heidi and the little girl had been waiting for this very special day for what seemed a lifetime.

Heidi didn’t have any brothers or sisters of her own and was so looking forward to meeting the new kittens.

She knew that she was going to love the new kittens and she was hoping that her mummy would let her have one to keep for herself. It would be very exciting to see them. Maybe she would know right away which one she wanted.

Carrying an Easter egg that she had found as a present for grandma she ran up the path to grandma’s house and shouted.

“Grandma! It’s me!”

Grandma hurried out of the kitchen holding her finger in front of her lips.

“Shh Heidi,” she said quietly as she beckoned

the little girl forward and opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs.

“Oh grandma, have they? Are they?” Heidi whispered.

Hastily giving the Easter egg to her grandma Heidi dropped to her knees in front of the little box.

Misty looked up at her and purred loudly. She was very proud of her new kittens.

Snuggled next to the little grey and white kitten was a sister who was tortoiseshell just like her mother, a brother who was black with white paws and a white bib, and another sandy coloured

brother.

Heidi was surprised to see so many different coloured kittens – they were all pretty but she had never seen a grey and white kitten before and she reached forward and stroked the tiny little grey and white head with her finger.

Could this be the little kitten that she was going to have one day to take home? Heidi looked down at the little grey and white body and felt such love for the little creature, yes, this was going to be

her kitten.

Heidi said, “He’s lovely! I think he should be called Vince.”

“Well that is a funny name for a kitten, but I think he may well be your very own kitten so you should be the one to choose his name.” Grandma said.

“Really grandma?” Heidi said “Really? Oh thank you grandma, thank you so much!”

In the days after they were born, the kittens could hear voices and they could feel the warmth from their mother, and they were happy snuggled up and drinking her warm milk.

She would wash them with her raspy tongue and that felt very good but they could not see her yet.

Heidi visited them every day after school and watched as, little by little, the kittens began to grow. She would stroke all of them but she always gave special attention to Vince, and she was sure that he knew the touch of her finger on his little head.

She picked him up and looked at his tiny ears and his little nose, his tiny paws and his fur that was so soft and finally his little tail. It was small now but Heidi knew that it would grow big and fluffy.

Mostly Heidi just thought how perfect he was. His brothers and sisters were beautiful too but there was something about little Vince that Heidi just knew meant that they would be together for life.

She would look after him when he was small and then when he got bigger maybe they could go out together.

Oh the adventures they would have! When she went to bed at night Heidi would imagine all the things that she would do with Vince when he was big enough.

She could hardly wait! Everyday she would notice small changes that meant that the kittens were getting bigger, and she laughed at their round little tummies, full up with the warm milk from their mother.

Heidi desperately wanted to take the new kitten home, this was a kitten who could be her lifelong

friend.

Then one day, when Heidi arrived, Vince had opened his eyes for the first time, and he looked right at her! He could now see his mum and his three siblings.

“Can I take Vince home yet grandma?”

“Not yet Heidi and besides which you haven’t asked mummy yet, have you?”

“Oh, no.” Heidi said. “I hope she says yes, she has to say yes!”

As she hurried home to ask mummy if she could have Vince Heidi kept saying, “please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.”

What if mummy said no? Heidi could not imagine what she would do then.

She and Vince were meant to be friends for life, she knew that, but would mummy understand that too? Maybe if Heidi promised to do lots of chores in the house? Maybe if she promised to keep her room clean, always? Maybe if she promised to do her homework without mummy nagging?

“oh please say yes!” she said out loud as she hurried up the garden path. When she got home, Heidi sat down at the kitchen table to drink a glass of milk.

“How are the new kittens, Heidi?” Her mummy asked.

“They are growing up and today their eyes are open! Vince looked right at me!” Heidi said.

“Mum, when the kittens are old enough could I have Vince? Grandma says it will be alright.”

Heidi held her breath.

“Well Heidi having a cat is a big responsibility, you will have to feed him and look after him. Do you think you could do that? And I don’t mean just for a little while, I mean, for as long as he lives. That

will be very many years.”

“Oh yes mummy, I know I could, I love Vince already and I will always look after him.”

“Well alright then, Heidi, when he is big enough you can bring him home.”

“Oh mummy, you’re the best!” Heidi ran to hug her mummy.

Grandpa had made a playpen out in the garden for the kittens to play in and when Heidi came over he would lift her into the playpen with the four kittens, where they would play together for hours.

They tried to run on their little legs, they sometimes fell over each other and chased little toys on strings that Heidi held up for them.

She loved the little meowing sounds they made and soon she could recognise Vince’s voice over the others. When the kittens were tired Vince would always come over to Heidi and sleep on her lap while the other three kittens curled up together.

Vince was getting bigger now and Heidi needed to use her whole hand to stroke him. Heidi loved him and there was no doubt that he loved her back.

When Vince was old enough and no longer needed his mum, it was finally time for him to go to live with Heidi in her house. Heidi had made lots of toys for him and with mummy had made a lovely bed for him to take naps in. They had bought him special kitten food too.

Everyone in the house loved Vince and he purred happily when they stroked him, but it was Heidi he loved and wherever she went he was right behind her. When she was asleep he would be in his little bed beside hers although sometimes he would creep in beside her, his little body vibrating as he purred loudly and rubbed his face on hers.

Heidi would look into his eyes and smile at him, and Vince would purr even louder. She was so proud of him. Her friends came to see Vince and they all agreed that he was a very handsome kitten.

Heidi made a special climbing post for him in the garden and she had hung some toys above it. She loved to see how Vince would climb up the post and then try to catch the little toys.

If he did catch them he would hang on for as long as he could and then drop down onto the grass only to run up the post again. Heidi loved the games that she played with Vince.

And so little Vince was beginning on his journey through life as Heidi’s very own kitten. What was ahead of him?

Let's find out!

As Vince grew bigger the two of them were inseparable. Vince would follow Heidi the short distance to her new school and then would be there again when she came out.

They were never apart. If they met a dog along the way, one that might bark at Vince, he would hop up into Heidi’s arms or onto a wall until the dog went away. Vince was a very smart kitten.

At Heidi’s new school they taught modern languages. As part of the curriculum the school would arrange exchange trips to different countries. Heidi was excited to learn that the first trip would be to Paris and she would be staying with a little girl her age who lived there.

Heidi could not bear to be separated from Vince so she asked her French teacher if he could come too. Fortunately Madame Walsh was a cat lover and she said, “Mais oui. Certainement!”

So that Vince could go too he had to visit the vet to have a vaccination to protect him against diseases. He was not very pleased about that but he was happy he would be able to go with his beloved Heidi.

Next they had to go to the passport office to have their photos taken to create their passport in order to travel to France. Heidi was so excited, and although Vince did not really know what to expect, you could tell he was excited too.

When the big day finally came Heidi left home with Vince in his carrier basket and she had their passports ready.

With the rest of the school party they boarded the Eurostar, a train that travels to France through a tunnel that goes deep under the English Channel. The train travels very, very fast at 160kmh (99mph).

They looked out of the speeding train’s window as they emerged into the sunshine in France, Heidi took Vince out of his carrier and hugged him tight.

This was soooo exciting!

Very soon they had arrived in Paris...

...the City of Love!

Madame Walsh was in charge of the group and introduced Heidi to the little girl who’s house she and Vince would be staying at during their visit.

Her name is Christelle and she has a little cat so she said, “Bonjour Heidi!, voici mon chat. Il s’appelle

Tigrou.” He was just the same age as Vince.

Heidi knew that Tigrou meant Tigger in English. The sweet little ginger cat had similar markings to those of the character in Winnie the Pooh. She said, “Bonjour Christelle, voici mon chat. Il s’appelle Vince.”

Christelle said “Très bien! Very good! Je suis très heureuse de te rencontrer.”

“I’m very pleased to meet you Christelle and I know we will have a wonderful time together in

Paris,” exclaimed Heidi.

Once they had settled in Christelle’s ‘maman’ called Madame Demabre told the girls about what she had planned while Heidi was visiting.