Returning to Europe with pets

[Ovacikpeedoff]

What he did in taking the dog back to England was illegal. Once a dog has left a pet passport country then it is required to be either returned to a pet passport country for 6 months or quarantined for 6 months in the UK.He was lucky because if they checked his passport they would have seen the entry and exit stamps from Turkey.

We love our dogs too much to take a chance and finish up getting caught.I am not saying that your friend does not love his animal. Being honest I really am a coward.

I do think that irresponsible behavior like that is the reason why the rules are so strict and it is those that abide by these rules who are penalized. Our dogs have been vaccinated against everything and anything and have been from the day we owned them and we have got to sit out 6 months here in France

Moving away from dogs, one thing that I am not sure of about France is that I cannot decide if it has the rip off the foreigner culture or not. I was reading an interesting article in the local English language paper about the Brits who turn up and buy barns to renovate. The French will not buy the barns because they are totally overpriced. They are blaming the Brits as they say the Brits are stupid and will pay anything for a wreck and are driving the prices way up. The big problem for the Brits is now that those who are trying to sell their renovated barns are lucky to get 75% of what they cost.So anyone fed up with Turkey there are some cheap renovated barns for sale. I hate the things as they are all sloping roofs and beams. I am sure I am suffering brain damage for the number of times that I have walked into the beams.

I have been looking at some new builds here and building regulations are very strict.They do not build with cavity walls but with a single block wall. They then add about the same thickness in insulation and then plasterboard. The houses we have been in seem to retain the heat.If you own a house and use gas as a fuel it is compulsory that all the gas connections are checked annually. The mayors office will ask you for proof so you need to keep your receipt. If you cannot prove it then the mayor will instruct a local company and the owner will have to pay for the survey. Fosses are even more strict. Most houses over 30 years need to have new ones installed to meet new requirements.A new fosse is about 7000 Euros.

[Old Daffodil]

Had our Border Collie's teeth cleaned by the vet today and she also gave her nails a trim 67euros and a happy dog. Madame vet's opinion about the quarantine situation is that if a dog has been vaccinated in Turkey and then has a blood test in France and it gives a satisfactory result the dog could then travel to England. That is not the law though.
The weather today is warmer about 28degrees and sunny, good for golf!Deisel here is between 1.11 and 1.15euro so not too bad for trips out.
There is a spa town near here called Bagnoles de lorne. Before the first world war about 1900 it was built up in the Belle Epoque style(which means beautiful) for the use of the super rich such as royal families and then after the war American film stars such as Charlie Chaplin visited and a Casino,race track and nine hole golf course built in the art deco style. It still is used by wealthy people for cures. There is a lovely lake and park in the town. The casino is next to the lake and still in action and owned by Americans. The Lido restaurant in the middle of town is still as it was originally built with all the original fittings and is very welcoming,even if you have a dog with you.Lovely food too.
There is a newsagents in our local village which has a small cafe attached which serves coffee,wine and beers. In the cafe you can put bets on or play a game called Rapido which is popular.There are various forms of gambling and it is all looked after by Madame who owns it and is a typical of a lot of newsagents in the villages. Really nice way to gamble if you fancy a flutter.  

[Old Daffodil]

I have been bought a WAHL dog grooming set and tried it out on our Border Collie.I put the grade 6 fitting on which is about one inch and found using it really easy. I did her tail and ears carefully and just trimmed the very ends of the hair and after a shower she looks really smart.I think she felt good too!
There is a manor house in the Loire Valley called Clos Luce where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last four years of his life after crossing the Alps on a mule with only three of his pictures,one of which was the Mona Lisa. The French King Francis 1 invited him to use the house and supplied him with a pension as Leonardo was old and frail. In the basement IBM have built models from Leonardo's designs and children can play in large models built from his plans in the  garden.The entry is 12.50 euros in the high season for adults and 9 euros low season. There are some tourist facilities there and a picnic ground.
 Francis 1 was a friend and ally to the Turkish Sultan of the time who had married a feisty harem girl from the Ukraine known as Roxelana.After having a punch up with the Sultan's current favourite and getting her banished from the harem Roxelana married the Sultan.

French law is quite strange. A local lady inherited her fathers farm and when she married it became her husband's. On his death it automatically becomes the property of all the children.The problem is if one of the children cannot be traced or is not able to make decisions because of illness the property is left in limbo regarding sale.  The effect of this is that there are houses left in villages and towns which are just crumbling away. I think the law is changing soon though.
The weather here at the moment is lovely. Temperature about 22c and a light breeze. The blackberries that are growing in the hedgerows are really juicy and in the garden the raspberries and blackcurrants are doing well. There are also cabbages,lettuces and assorted vegetables growing well too. The potatoes here are lovely and there are lots of different types to choose from.
I shall find it a real culture shock to go back to England now. There are days when I never see a car and it is so quiet.
I walked into the nearest small town about 10 kilometres away the other day and there is a cave cellar there which sells a selection of wine and Taittinger Champagne. Need the car for the next visit.

[Old Daffodil]

Choice of food here is really good.There is beef,lamb,pork,duck,rabbit and all sorts of fish. I have really enjoyed having scallops for a meal. In the fruit and veg dept there is a great choice,lots of different types of lettuce and tomatoes,not just one. I have tried some of the ready meals from a tin or freezer pack and they are good quality. Wine prices can be from as little as under a euros to the sky is the limit really depending on what you want. Le Mutant is a cheap supermarket here.

I have found that if you live here you can buy a regular traveller card for about 70pounds to cross on the ferry and this gives you discounts for travelling back to the UK. If you are going for over 10 days it can be as much as 30per cent discount and a free cabin and breakfast voucher. A lot of things in France are dearer than England so it is worth going across the channel for a big shop sometimes. A lot of goods are not available in France that we have in England.

[Eric]

Keep the info coming, I love your updates and it is making France look more and more inviting.

[ovaciksarah]

Really look forward to all your blogs, puts everyone,s mind at rest a little that there is a great way to be able to bring your animals back to England, without stressing them, hope this will mean that less people decide to not dump their animals at Uzumlu, or worse still just in the street. An animal is for life, not for just while you,re in Turkey

[Old Daffodil]

I have heard that there are people who are living in Europe who will look after your pet for six months and enable them to have a passport. I don't know of any personally but maybe that is another way that you could avoid quarantine kennels.
We sometimes use a kennel here for our dogs if we are away on a trip and it is really excellent. An Essex lady and her family run the kennels and cattery on her small farm,she also has horses. The conditions are very clean and well organised and the French authorities are very strict on checking everything.

[Old Daffodil]

Where we are living I can see a tower in the distance that is called the Belvedere and marks the highest place in Northern France. It is quite a remote spot in the middle of huge forests and no one was there when we climbed it. The view from the top is a panorama over the countryside and is very beautiful.The area has picnic seating and is popular with cyclists. Fishing lakes here are popular too with both men and women fisherfolk (mainly carp,some tench). The area near to it is called the Alpes Mancelles and in the winter it snows and looks like Switzerland as the houses are often similar to the Swiss chalets with wooden shutters.
I met a lovely old lady today in her eighties who had never left the local village and the high spot of her life was meeting American soldiers in the area in 1944. She has never even seen the sea. The farmer who is my neighbour has a field next to his house which has every car parked in it that he as owned since the age of 17!There are about 15 of them just sitting in a field!
In a few weeks the wine lorries will be in the area selling wine from tankers. You take your own containers along to the lorry which is parked somewhere and they sell you wine by the litre!!!!:DVive la France!
It is very  easy to garden here, there are loads of sweet peas growing up the fences and also fruit bushes in the hedges. It us misty in the morning when I go out and then the sun starts shining on the spiders webs in the forest grasses and the day warms up and is very pleasant.http://www.normandie-chambres.co.uk/gardens_normandy.html

[Old Daffodil]

So Cardinal Walter Casper says that landing at Heathrow is like landing in a third world country. Well I suggest he visits Rome train station and has a look at the state of the trains arriving there! Crossing Italy I was amazed how much the country is covered in graffiti.The scams pulled by the taxi drivers are legendary too!

[Ovacikpeedoff]

As part of the plan for returning to the UK we bought a house in the UK about 15 months ago. We let it to a couple that were highly recommended by friends and we got very good references about them as well. It was a bad mistake as they have caused so much damage to the house. I terminated the tenancy at the end of August and they assured me that the house is clean and tidy. I went back 10 days ago thinking I will need to spend a couple of days just doing the odd little job. I opened the door and when i looked at the state of the place my jaw nearly hit the ground. Every where was filthy and the walls had big holes where they had banged nails in to put up pictures. They had more pictures in the house than there are hanging in the National Gallery. Dirt and grease all over the carpets and the oven had never been cleaned, it took me 8 hours of hard scrubbing and washing to get it into a fit state.

They smashed the sink in the bathroom. The garden was totally overgrown. The children were allowed to write on the walls with coloured pencils.They had 2 dogs and they were never exercised and they did their toilet on the covered driveway. 3 gallons of jeyes fluid cannot get rid of the whole smell.I am having a specialist company coming to sort it out.

I just cannot understand how people can show total disrespect for others property.

I wish I had just opened the door and let some squatters in as I am sure they would have kept it cleaner.