Just finished arranging a holiday for with Cookie and the dogs.
We're heading off to Normandy for two weeks next Friday. We visited Normandy a few years ago, intending to take the one dog we had with us at the time, unfortunately we didn't realise that there had to be a seven month gap between Rabisin Vaccine and bringing the dog back into the UK so he didn't get to go that time.
We have booked this converted barn 'gite' The Owl Barn it's out of the way and has eight acres of land for the dogs to play and run on.
Looking forward to vast quantities of wine, Camembert and pre-sale lamb. And having been carb light since Christmas we're going to hit the local boulangerie hard.
We also took advantage of our Tesco loyalty points and got £120 off the cost of the Le Shuttle train crossing. Much better for the dogs than ferry crossing, even if the driving is longer for us.
I cant wait!
Holiday plans
Re: Holiday plans
That sound like fun; have a great time.
Re: Holiday plans
Have a great time Daisy, lovely to take the dogs!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Holiday plans
That's the best thing, they've been to France twice with us since that first mistake, both times with the caravan. Love the pet passport scheme, even though it costs hundreds of pounds over the years to keep up with Rabisin shots, it's worth it.
France is very welcoming to dogs, they're welcomed into most bars and restaurants often getting served their bowl of water before we get our drinks.
France is very welcoming to dogs, they're welcomed into most bars and restaurants often getting served their bowl of water before we get our drinks.
Re: Holiday plans
Nice! My mate is off for a three month jaunt around the best paragliding sites in Europe soon. Him and his wife will be sharing their campervan with their black Lab. Must say I'm envious of you both, can't wait to take out boys touring when we move back.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Holiday plans
Evian, no doubt. Have a great time.Daisy wrote: France is very welcoming to dogs, they're welcomed into most bars and restaurants often getting served their bowl of water before we get our drinks.
Re: Holiday plans
Bringing your boys home will be a lot less hassle under the new rules Gob.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 120229.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 120229.pdf
Re: Holiday plans
Thanks ever so much for that Daisy!!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Holiday plans
All packed up and ready for the off. Can't believe how much stuff we've crammed into the car!
The lads are looking confused, they're not sure if they're off to the dog sitters or going to the caravan as they've seen signs of either thing happening.
Two weeks of Camembert, calvados and croissants. Nomnomnom!
The lads are looking confused, they're not sure if they're off to the dog sitters or going to the caravan as they've seen signs of either thing happening.
Two weeks of Camembert, calvados and croissants. Nomnomnom!
Re: Holiday plans
Watch out, you may bump into rubato there 
Keep in touch, have a great time!!
Keep in touch, have a great time!!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Holiday plans
Well, he should be easy to spot...Watch out, you may bump into rubato there
Just look for the American who's even ruder than the French...
Re: Holiday plans
We've got here. There's wifi in the house so I can keep an eye on here 
Bought Camembert for tea, it's practically the law for it to be our first meal in France.
Bought Camembert for tea, it's practically the law for it to be our first meal in France.
Re: Holiday plans
You cannot get a bad meal in France you know.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Holiday plans
Did I ever tell of the "Sausage that made me cry"?
We accidentally bought Andouillette sausage, and within moments of it hitting the pan the smell of frying intestines had me crying retching and heaving... It stank out the caravan so bad we had to sleep in the awning.
It tasted so bad even the dogs refused to eat it.
We accidentally bought Andouillette sausage, and within moments of it hitting the pan the smell of frying intestines had me crying retching and heaving... It stank out the caravan so bad we had to sleep in the awning.
It tasted so bad even the dogs refused to eat it.
Re: Holiday plans
Sounds scrumptious:
On the other hand, you eat Marmite, so I don't see why this would be such a big deal for you....
Personally, I just as soon my food not taste (literally) like shit...Andouillette: French Pig-Colon Sausage
I discovered the (in)famous French sausage “Andouilette,” in an article at the Times Online (UK), which begins:
“I would never have discovered Troyes, a beautiful medieval town of timber-framed buildings, were it not for a pale, lumpy sausage made from pigs’ intestines that smells like a pissoir….”
French andouillette, on the other hand, is an acquired taste and can be an interesting challenge even for adventurous eaters who don’t object to the taste or aroma of feces.[There are such people?] It is sometimes eaten cold, as in picnic baskets. Served cold and sliced thinly, the smell, taste, and texture may be mistaken for an andouille [a milder, less stinky sausage], but on closer inspection the texture is considerably more rubbery and the meat has a more feces-like flavor. By contrast, many French eateries serve andouillette as a hot dish, and foreigners have been repulsed by the aroma, to the point where they find it inedible (see external links). While hot andouillette smells of feces, food safety requires that all such matter is removed from the meat before cooking. Feces-like aroma can be attributed to the common use of the pig’s colon (chitterlings) in this sausage, and stems from the same compounds that give feces some of its odors. (source)
On the other hand, you eat Marmite, so I don't see why this would be such a big deal for you....
Re: Holiday plans
Oh, now you're exaggerating. Dogs will eat actual shit they find on the road in front of them I don't think they'd scruple about this. And actual shit smells like beets. A vile substance not fit for human... well you get it. We had a dog, a beautiful thing half Irish Setter and Half Pyrenees, who had a real knack for finding really stinky things to bring home. The first was a "flap-cat" something that appeared to have been a cat at some point and might have been run over by a tractor tire and then ripened in its flattened state. It took two attempts to bury it deep enough for the dog not to drag it back with a sense of triumph and joy each time. the second, no less pungent, was a nice ripe fish skeleton from the Sandy River in Oregon. This was easier since I could just pitch it back into the stream with a bit of rotation like a frisbee.Daisy wrote:Did I ever tell of the "Sausage that made me cry"?
We accidentally bought Andouillette sausage, and within moments of it hitting the pan the smell of frying intestines had me crying retching and heaving... It stank out the caravan so bad we had to sleep in the awning.
It tasted so bad even the dogs refused to eat it.
Authentic Andouille sausage from S. Louisiana is very hot and spicy, probably not for European tastes.
yrs,
rubato
Re: Holiday plans
This is not Andouille, this is Andouillette, totally different beast.
Maybe you should give it a try when you come here.
Maybe you should give it a try when you come here.
Re: Holiday plans
From wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouillette
The photos in the wiki link don't make it more appealing. I'll pass.
Despite the sausage snafu, hope you have a great holiday, Daisy!
The line is directly from wiki, emphasis mine.Andouillette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Andouille.
Andouillette (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃dujɛt]) is a coarse-grained sausage made with pork (or occasionally veal), intestines or chitterlings, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. Tripe, which is the stomach lining of a cow, is sometimes an ingredient in the filler of an andouillette, but it is not the casing or the key to its manufacture. True andouillette will be an oblong tube. If made with the small intestine, it is a plump sausage generally about 25 mm in diameter but often it is much larger, possibly 7–10 cm in diameter, and stronger in scent when the colon is used. True andouillette is rarely seen outside France and has a strong, distinctive odor related to its intestinal origins and components. Although sometimes repellant to the uninitiated, this aspect of andouillette is prized by its devotees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouillette
The photos in the wiki link don't make it more appealing. I'll pass.
Despite the sausage snafu, hope you have a great holiday, Daisy!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké