We are (at last) home

2500 km and we are home in the UK. Its was not an eventless journey, 4 nights in hotels (and a bill of about £700 for the one way!!!)

I must admit the car they bought for me was just perfect, comfortable for a big boy like me. I found it easy to dose on my spacious back seat, so I'm okay.

So the "nitty gritty" to the highs and lows. First night was Valencia, 3 hours up the road. Back to the Ibis, and not a problem, I did not get my own bed. The only problem was that when I went to the bar like last visit when I got my own bowl of water from the bar. This time it was a Spanish receptionist and bar girl who was terrified of us dogs. First she nearly died when she saw me, then while waiting to take the lift, she nearly freaked when she encountered my Dutch mate just coming down in the lift. So not quite as friendly, but the hotel is very comfortable, and dads have a American Diner across the road they go to for dinner.

Next we do a long session to get our wheels and bums out of Spain and into France (nearly six hours). A last call into a service area to fill up with cheap Spanish fuel. Dads say diesel is 20cents a litre cheaper so I guess that must be important.

Narbonne is our first stop in France and the first time to use "B+B" hotel chain. Just off the motorway, and we are ready to check in. The chain is similar to Premier Choice we stayed at on the way down.However there was a reception person and we checked in with a human. BUT then we heard the dreaded words we have heard so many times travelling over the last three years. Sorry the Internet system does not work .I want to go into Kennels at the sound of these words. They will be screaming, "advertise a service and don't offer it" and quite a few words I still don't understand. But there is a solution, if they carry their laptop over the road to their other hotel and sit in the breakfast room they can get wifi, so its not wifi but walkabout. Otherwise the hotel was OK for €53, they had dinner at the Ibis around the corner (cus they had a 15% discount voucher - Scrooge eat your heart out !!)

Another six hours up to Saumur, (another of our favourites) and my dreaded appointment - the vets. BUT we needed the emergency services for dads. At Honfleur where I normally see my lady vet, they get charged €49 for my treatment and stamp in passport) today they got the bill €91 *********************** hell, they must be taking the ****, and stuttering, and it was monsooning outside and as black as night. The hotel was nice although I did cause the lady owner/receptionist to gasp cus I was so big (she tried to see if they had a bigger room for me - how kind). Dads did calm down, they decided to have dinner in the hotel, and they came back smiling and glowing....apparently dinner was one of the best they had in the last 12 months, "French Fine Dining" (what ever that means - think its NOT served in a bowl like they do my dinner !).

Now we are off to Honfleur, for the last night for me to be valid for travel (cannot return before 24 hours after vets- or more than 48 hours). Trauma, only 3 hours to hotel, get there at 1330 and the machine to check in won't work, long story, but they get told to return at 5pm when reception opens. Its a quiet afternoon, while they get madder by the minute. Then when reception opens (its a B+B again) its sorry about the machine, but Internet does not work either, the company says they are "updating" systems.

THEN THE BIG ONE. We go into town, find a nice care/bar on the pavement alongside the harbour in the brilliant sun. Nice friendly waiter, "2 large bears please" I think, Guy was doing his French speak. I took exception to a French dog that had a go at me from the next table (pity dads held me back, it could have been the start of a new French/English war ). Nice cool beers arrive, a little sipping, then I feared being an orphan !! they were gasping and choking...........bones......powdered glass.......arsenic.... NO its was the bill placed on the table with the drinks. This is France folks - €18 (apparently there was a surcharge of €2 to bring the drinks to the table. So as we sat there, me staring at the dog under the table, them cared for by paramedic with oxygen, we thought how nice the FREE sun was...... They did end up laughing though. They went to a pizzeria for dinner, and Alan had pasta. When it arrived the waitress went around the back of him and tied a big red bib on him, and left. Apparently it took a while for them to stop sniggering and eat.

So another chapter in my adventure, and that's just the bits I can tell you about.

I have already done most of the next upload of our first days in UK , lots of pics and gossip. so I will give you time to read this and then post the next page.

Hope all my mates everywhere are having fun, and I don't need to hear that its SUNNY in Spain, cus its grey windy and wet here !!!

Leopold