Bonjour mes amis.
Enough of that froggie talk for now!
Phew! That was a hectic trip around France - my second holiday over there. I still don't get you lot with your travelling, but I'll hand it to you, you're quite resourceful.
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| That's roughly our route |
Vendredi - Friday
4am they woke me up - I was just in the middle of a really good dream about... I'll leave that to your imagination!
Before I knew it me and my bed were in the back of the car, heading for Folkstone and the Channel Tunnel.
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| Don't forget the car. |
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| 'Walkies' It's just a dog bog - you can't polish a turd! |
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| Underneath the English Channel on 'Le Shuttle'. Do you think I look a bit bewildered? Those two behind don't look bothered. |
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| Here we are in Calais filling up with diesel. It was like travelling First Class for me, plenty of room to stretch out and a bed - lovely old job. |
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| Our first comfort break, a motorway service station near Reims in 'Champagne' country. |
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| By lunchtime I was needing to stretch my legs, so we stopped off at a park in Joinville... |
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| ... and I managed to find a stream there, as per normal I couldn't resist! |
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| Mum & dad wanted to get going but I wanted to play. |
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| Mid afternoon and we are at our first stop, a place called Auberge de la Fontaine in Villers-sur-Suize |
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| Oh the temptation, but I wasn't allowed in |
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| Villiers was a bit of a one horse town |
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| Here's the main attraction - the hotel/restaurant, not me & mum! |
Samedi - Saturday
After a leisurely breakfast in a room full of stuffed animals and birds we headed further south to Provence.
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| Look at all those stuffed animals - I wonder if they're thinking of doing that to me when I'm dead and putting me in the dining room? Taxidermist for Rudie? No way!! |
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| 'How much is that doggie in the window?' |
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| Our second stopover was in a small village called Mornas near to Orange |
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| They had a lovely swimming pool there, but once more I wasn't allowed a swim, probably for the best - I might have come out blond with all of that Chlorine in there. |
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| Another night of listening to snoring and farting - and that's just me! |
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| Saturday night in downtown Orange. It basically says pick up your dogs poo! The french aren't renowned for doing that. I'll tell you a poo story in a little while |
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| What a lovely Citroen. The folks discovered two things about me in Orange. Firstly mum sussed out that I'll sit patiently still and pose for a photo, but only until I hear the camera's shutter click, then I'm on the move... |
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...the other thing is that I will also poo to order! Case in point, we were about to find a restaurant (I'd already eaten by the way) and dad didn't want me to drop one out of the blue, so he took me to that corner behind us, showed me a nappy sack and told me to poo. I duly obliged, he picked it up put in the bin and everyone was happy!
I'm quite a smart cookie really! |
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| Me & the dog whisperer - in his dreams! |
Dimanche - Sunday
Today I found out why we had come the long way round to our house, more about that later.
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We drove the short distance to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where they produce one of the most famous wines in France.
I don't know a thing about wine - all of these pretentious wannabes. "Yah I'm getting plum, oh and a hint of elderberry" |
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| They might well be getting "straw" after I've pissed on the grapes! |
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| View of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the vineyards and the Rhône from the chateau |
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| Le Chateau |
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| Nice view |
After we left Châteauneuf-du-Pape we drove to Nîmes to watch a bike race called The Tour de France. There are 194 cyclists in 22 teams and they ride 21 stages in three weeks around France, except that it started in England this year - how bizarre. That all sounds like hard work to me, I much prefer my version.
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| Lunchtime in Nîmes |
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| Two hours later it was chucking it down with rain, just as the Caravan came through. I didn't get to see it though but I'd imagine it to be a loads of gypsies throwing goodies into the crowd. But when do gypsies ever give anything away? |
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| Here we are 5oo metres from the finish, mum's wearing her 'Cochonou' hat that she got from the Caravan |
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| Do you what? The bikes flew past us so fast and all I saw was a blur - all that hanging around - I don't get it |
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| The Arena in Nîmes |
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| Me & dad at the finish line |
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| More water |
So that's part one, I won't bore you with anymore at the moment.
L'amour de Rudie Le Chien xx
