July 14, 1789

The French word for marshmallow is 'chamallow'. Our story today celebrates the liberation of the prisoners in the French prison called the Bastille. This event is why July 14 is the national holiday in France. Our commemorative story is of a cat who kept escaping from the cages at the veterinarian's in Marseille. Chamallow is a white kitty, and white cats played a part in French history, but that is not why we picked this event. We picked it as a famous liberation that in fact, was only stopped when a video camera was set up to record the events that happened after the clinic was closed.

The story is below. My French readers will take it in good humor I trust, when I compare a cat escaping to the event which rocked 18th century Europe. After all, mes amis, the real event only liberated 7 people, none of them terribly smart.


The Independent Online Chamellow in action as she breaks free of the cage YouTube

A vet has renamed one animal in his care ‘the king of escape’, in a nod to the feline’s ability to break free from any cage in the practice.

Adopted cat Chamallow simply refused to be held captive, causing havoc for staff at a Marseille veterinary clinic in France.

Staff at the veterinary practice had been baffled as to how their adopted cat broke free from its cage every night, until they placed a camera in front of him one evening.

Footage shows Chamallow breaking free with ease from two cages – although he has perfected his skills as an escape artist on many more.

A video uploaded to YouTube of Chamallow as he liberates himself has been viewed over a million times.

"We knew something was going on,” a receptionist at the veterinary practice told La Provence. “We would lock him up in the evening in his cage with his food and cat litter and in the morning he would wait for us in the clinic.”

Sadly for Chamallow, his days as the feline Harry Houdini are over, after staff added an extra bolt to his lock, making it impossible for him to escape.