France - 2024 (3 Viewers)

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi all. Seriously considering taking the clan to France next Summer. It’ll be the whole clan which includes the hound. This rules out using the ferry as he’d not tolerate being in the car on his own with car alarms going off everywhere. I doubt if I’d have much of an interior left to come back to😂

This also means I’ll have to overcome my claustrophobia and use the channel tunnel!

I’ve looked into what I need for the dog and it appears to be an annual health check, chip and rabies vaccine. Then returning a tape worm tablet from a vet in France. Has anyone done this? Is it straightforward to arrange?

Then we come to location. I’d love to do the Pyranees or French Alps but it may be a drive too far. Not ruled out but initially favouring the Dordogne area. Been here before and it’s stunning. We were thinking that as this absolutely primarily a family holiday it would give the boys good weather to have a swim. Would anyone have any other suggestions? I’d like to have decent walks for the dog with some interesting birds in the immediate vicinity as my confidence with driving through any built up areas will need to improve. I’d also like to avoid the tolls just to keep costs down.

Any advice would be much appreciated. I’ve stayed in the Champagne area as well but thought we’d like to go a little further South this time.

Cheers,

Rich

 

[Kits]

As a Francophile, I can recommend

Vendée
Charente Maritime and Charente
Gironde

but they might be quite a drive with children and a dog. We used to do the Portsmouth-St. Malo crossing and drive down the autoroutes so it wasn’t too bad; arriving in NE France adds to the journey, of course.

Having said that, we’ve enjoyed Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

As a Francophile, I can recommend

Vendée
Charente Maritime and Charente
Gironde

but they might be quite a drive with children and a dog. We used to do the Portsmouth-St. Malo crossing and drive down the autoroutes so it wasn’t too bad; arriving in NE France adds to the journey, of course.

Having said that, we’ve enjoyed Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley.

Cheers Kits. All the boys (dog included) are pretty good in the car. We really are limited to the Channel Tunnel unfortunately. But we’re used to long drives. Last year it took us 16 hours to get back from North Uist. Though I’m not too keen to repeat that 😉

 

[Phil Andrews]

Can recommend La Brenne NP if you are happy to be away from the coast.

 

[dantheman]

Surely if can drive that far, then Pyrenees (or Alps) are in range ... Massif Central also interesting bird/scenery wise.

(Funnily enough when I was a kid, went on a road trip down to France with Dad and my brother - Pyrenees, Nimes etc)

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Can recommend La Brenne NP if you are happy to be away from the coast.

No probs with away from the coast Phil as we’ll have the dog with us. Rich

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Surely if can drive that far, then Pyrenees (or Alps) are in range ... Massif Central also interesting bird/scenery wise.

(Funnily enough when I was a kid, went on a road trip down to France with Dad and my brother - Pyrenees, Nimes etc)

Happy(ish) to drive that far on the correct side of the road Dan😉

 

[rosbifs]

Bought girlfriends dog a couple of weeks ago - not cheap but easy!

Need a European health certificate to get to the continent - chip and rabbies jabs - cost about 150 pounds (assuming already chipped). Then you need a vet administered worming tablet between 1 and 5 days before return - cost 41 euro.

The P and O calais dover had a dog deck so dog didn't need to stay in the car. We did Chunnel on way out and ferry way back.

Pyrenees wasn't a difficult drive - in two stints 5 and 6 hours - I've done it, on my own, in one from Zeebrugge. There are good places to stop en route. A good day to travel is Sunday as lorries are not allowed on motorways...

Generally restaurants and bars in France are dog friendly.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Bought girlfriends dog a couple of weeks ago - not cheap but easy!

Need a European health certificate to get to the continent - chip and rabbies jabs - cost about 150 pounds (assuming already chipped). Then you need a vet administered worming tablet between 1 and 5 days before return - cost 41 euro.

The P and O calais dover had a dog deck so dog didn't need to stay in the car. We did Chunnel on way out and ferry way back.

Pyrenees wasn't a difficult drive - in two stints 5 and 6 hours - I've done it, on my own, in one from Zeebrugge. There are good places to stop en route. A good day to travel is Sunday as lorries are not allowed on motorways...

Generally restaurants and bars in France are dog friendly.

Cheers Charles. Good to know about the hound. 👍

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

This just arrived ready for some weekend reading 👍

 

[DMW]

Although it's a long time since I was there, I would second La Brenne, and the Loire Valley around Angers and Saumur. Angers is about 3hrs from St Malo, and has possibly the largest Corncrake population in Western Europe in the adjacent meadows (several hundred pairs). The nearby Saumur area has the most northerly Rock Sparrows at Fontevraud Abbey, and breeding Little Bustard, Montys etc near Loudun. Montreuil-Bellay is a really nice small town to use as a base for the Saumur area.

There are no toll roads to get to this area, and it's far enough south to break the drive to the Pyrenees.

 

[Val35]

Although it's a long time since I was there, I would second La Brenne, and the Loire Valley around Angers and Saumur. Angers is about 3hrs from St Malo, and has possibly the largest Corncrake population in Western Europe in the adjacent meadows (several hundred pairs). The nearby Saumur area has the most northerly Rock Sparrows at Fontevraud Abbey, and breeding Little Bustard, Montys etc near Loudun. Montreuil-Bellay is a really nice small town to use as a base for the Saumur area.

There are no toll roads to get to this area, and it's far enough south to break the drive to the Pyrenees.

Unfortunately, French corncrake population has been declining rapidly and in 2012, there were less than 400 singing males in the country. I don't have the latest estimates with me (I'll try to check this weekend), but I think it's even much less now.
The meadows around Angers still have the highest numbers of corncrakes in France but seeing one or even hearing one is quite a challenge now...

 

[DMW]

Unfortunately, French corncrake population has been declining rapidly and in 2012, there were less than 400 singing males in the country. I don't have the latest estimates with me (I'll try to check this weekend), but I think it's even much less now.
The meadows around Angers still have the highest numbers of corncrakes in France but seeing one or even hearing one is quite a challenge now...

That's really sad to hear, especially as when I visited (a good few years ago) I believe the population was still increasing thanks to better land management. It seemed very strange listening to Corncrake in a suburban meadow.

 

[Richard Prior]

To echo Valentin’s comments on Corncrake decline, the latest data are from 2020 and estimate between 205 and 227 singing males in France, nevertheless that was a big improvement on the previous 3 years, which were heading down towards the hundred mark. The ‘Angers basin’ held around 50 singing males in 2020.
Even my neck of the woods (or mountains I should say) had a singing male that year!

 

[DMW]

To echo Valentin’s comments on Corncrake decline, the latest data are from 2020 and estimate between 205 and 227 singing males in France, nevertheless that was a big improvement on the previous 3 years, which were heading down towards the hundred mark. The ‘Angers basin’ held around 50 singing males in 2020.
Even my neck of the woods (or mountains I should say) had a singing male that year!

My recollection is that when I visited the estimate was as high as 900 singing males in the Basses Vallees alone - that's a really catastrophic decline if I recall correctly.

 

[Val35]

To echo Valentin’s comments on Corncrake decline, the latest data are from 2020 and estimate between 205 and 227 singing males in France, nevertheless that was a big improvement on the previous 3 years, which were heading down towards the hundred mark. The ‘Angers basin’ held around 50 singing males in 2020.
Even my neck of the woods (or mountains I should say) had a singing male that year!

Thank you, I had that figure of about 200 singing males in mind but I didn't have the source at hand.
It seems that there's a trend in corncrake breeding in mountains (up to 1850m above sea level !) in the PACA region (southeast of France)...this might be because at lower altitudes the meadows are mowed much earlier.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Just came across this site: Tolls rates in France : calculate the price of my journey | SANEF

Tolls appear to be less than I expected.

Rich

 

[Richard Prior]

Just came across this site: Tolls rates in France : calculate the price of my journey | SANEF

Tolls appear to be less than I expected.

Rich

You can come down to the Alps then Rich, for the boys the swimming in Lake Annecy is excellent!

 

[rosbifs]

Just came across this site: Tolls rates in France : calculate the price of my journey | SANEF

Tolls appear to be less than I expected.

Rich

I would think its 100 euros north to south and the same east to west.

On an average 4 hour journey I would guess you save 25% of the time. If I was going on any journey longer than 3 to 4 hours I wouldn't dream of taking 'A' roads - drivers can be frustrating in France. I would happily pay to avoid the everyday 'Sunday' drivers. That said in the girlfriends car (M340d), a couple of weeks ago, the drive to Calais, from here, was a pleasure despite some long sections of country road (they were the best bit)! The overall average, on the main driving day, was 72mph over nearly 6 hours, including the first 2 hours on back roads...

 

[JTweedie]

Hi all. Seriously considering taking the clan to France next Summer. It’ll be the whole clan which includes the hound. This rules out using the ferry as he’d not tolerate being in the car on his own with car alarms going off everywhere. I doubt if I’d have much of an interior left to come back to😂

This also means I’ll have to overcome my claustrophobia and use the channel tunnel!

I’ve looked into what I need for the dog and it appears to be an annual health check, chip and rabies vaccine. Then returning a tape worm tablet from a vet in France. Has anyone done this? Is it straightforward to arrange?

Then we come to location. I’d love to do the Pyranees or French Alps but it may be a drive too far. Not ruled out but initially favouring the Dordogne area. Been here before and it’s stunning. We were thinking that as this absolutely primarily a family holiday it would give the boys good weather to have a swim. Would anyone have any other suggestions? I’d like to have decent walks for the dog with some interesting birds in the immediate vicinity as my confidence with driving through any built up areas will need to improve. I’d also like to avoid the tolls just to keep costs down.

Any advice would be much appreciated. I’ve stayed in the Champagne area as well but thought we’d like to go a little further South this time.

Cheers,

Rich

If you were able to get the ferry, would taking the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry help cut out the long drive through France? You'd be quite close to the border and the Pyrenees from Bilbao so that might be do-able. I've not done this myself, but just looking at the map. It looks like these ferries offer you a choice of how to take a dog on with you, including in your car (which you've ruled out), shipboard kennels and shipboard pet cabins. Might be an option?