Travelogue: Road Trip to France - Part 2 Loire Valley

After reaching Calais, we had a 6 hours drive to our holiday rental south of Loches. Loire Valley is a huge area and we have decided to concentrate on the area east of Tours. We found a holiday rental which was doggie friendly just south of Loches.

After a night's rest, we headed to the beautiful town of Amboise for the day. Unfortunately, the weather was bad. The rain was coming down non-stop. Despite that, you can see how beautiful Amboise is. The town sits on left bank of Loire with the Chateau towers above the town and the river.

Amboise

You can't come to Amboise without visiting the Chateau. The tickets are 10.50 Euros each. There is plenty to cover inside, so take your time. I am not going to go into the history, just enjoy the pictures :)

Going up to Chateau 'd Amboise

The Chapel of Saint Hubert where Leonardo da Vinci is buried

Top Left: View of Amboise town below, Top Right: Chateau d'Amboise, Bottom left: View of Amboise, Bottom Right: View across Loire

View of Chateau d'Amboise Grounds

Travelogue: Road Trip to France - Part 1 Crossing the Channel

At the end of August, the whole family (parents, husband and dogs included) went on a 2 week road trip to France. We planned a week in the Loire Valley, and a week in Brittany. It went fantastic!!! This was our second time bringing the dogs on a road trip to France. Armed with their pet passport and our 4x4 packed, we drove from home all the way down to Folkestone to catch the Eurotunnel over to Calais. Last time, we took the Ferry due to a strike on the Eurotunnel. So we were quite apprenhensive as we didn't know what to expect. All fears were blown out of the window, once we started our journey. It was raining cats and dogs on the day itself which was horrible as we got there early and had to make sure the doggies had their wee before we packed them back in the car to go on our merry way.

Rainy day at the Eurotunnel

The experience of driving into a train carriage was amazing. We had a tall 4x4, so ended up booking to go in the single deck carriage. If you have a normal car, you would go into a double deck carriage which I think is much more interesting.

The carriages open out to allow the cars to drive into the train

Once you are in the train carriage, the Eurotunnel staff would guide you and all loaded, they would closed down the gates between the carriages. The journey itself took 35 minutes, and the loading of all vehicles were really quick. We reached France really quickly, and the carriages reopened and you drove off into France. It was super easy and the waiting time was very reasonable. Best of all, the dogs get to stay with you in the car. Unlike taking the Ferry from Dover across to Calais, where the trip takes 1.5 hours, you have to leave your dogs in the car during the entire journey. A bit unnerving I would say, so if you are travelling with your dogs, I would definitely recommend taking the Eurotunnel. It is more costly, but the shorter journey time and for the dogs, it is the far superior choice. You pay £15 for each animal each way and it is very easy. At check in, you just have to let the attendant know that you have animals in the car, and they will give you a sticker to place on your car so that any Eurotunnel staff will know there are animals in your vehicle, and that's it. No red tape, special queues etc, very easy to take your dogs with you.

We are in France

On arrival, we just drive out of the train and voila! we are in France. Just bear in mind to drive on the right and you will be alright.


Join me next on the Loire Valley Leg of our trip. It was a 6 hours drive from Calais to where our gite rental was in the Loire Valley, south of Loches. Stay tune.

My Quinton turns 7!

Couldn't believe that it was Quinton's time to turn 7 years old today. His Birthday was only a couple of weeks after Reegan's. So after Reegan's mini birthday party with her Therapy Dogs friends. It was Quinton's mini birthday gathering with his Golden Retriever Club friends at Bishan Dog Park.

Quinton at 8 Weeks old

My Reegan is 5 today!!!!

My darling Reegan is 5 today! Happy Birthday!!! Can't believe how time has flies. My baby girl is growing up faster. I cannot believe I love her so much more day after day and I wish she will have plenty more of healthy and happy times with our family!!

Reegan - at 7 weeks when we brought her home

Exploring Singapore for dog-friendly places - Sun Ray Cafe

Usually when I need to bring your dogs with me for a pet friendly eating place, I would go to Canopy Dining in Bishan Park. That usually occurs after morning at the dog run, then lunch at Canopy. This week I had the chance to visit SunRay Cafe which is totally dog-friendly. I have heard about it from my friends from the Golden Retriever Club as they regularly have gathering at the cafe.

Told you..they are pet-friendly

Exploring Singapore for dog-friendly places: Pet Movers at Pasir Ris Farmway

When we first moved to Singapore, we weren't sure where to bring the dogs for a run. I have heard of Pet Movers, as they were one of those Pet moving company we came across when we were moving the dogs from Hong Kong to Singapore. Anyway, we knew they have a pet shop, even a wading pool (only open at the weekends) and a little dog run. Since we were at that time, living in the North, we thought a trip with the dogs there would be fun.

Pet Movers is located at 4 Pasir Ris Farmway 2. These are their opening hours: Pet Shop & Office: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Weekdays) 9.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Weekend/Public Holidays) Pet Megamart, Dog Run & Dog Wading Pool: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Weekdays) 9.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Weekend/Public Holiday ).

There are plenty of parking there, but the annoying thing is at their office, they do live animals sales. The moment you get out of your car, you are overcome by strong smells of stale urine. Luckily by the time you walked to the dog run area, the smell is reduced. The run is sufficient. There is even some agility equipment located at the far end of the run. There is a covered walkway but no sitting area. Walking to the end of the walkway, you will find the gate leading out to the pet mega mart, a sitting area, washing up area and the wading pool which is only opened on weekends and can get rather crowded on the weekends since it is free to use. Not sure how clean the water is since we have never brought the dogs to swim there, so I cannot comment on it. The pet shop has a good range of products and if you are a member of pet movers, you get some sort of discount too.

Here are some photos of the doggies at the run. Maybe you can bring your dogs there for a look.

The hubby with the doggies

Doggies outing to Botanical Gardens on Mother's Day

My cousin recently got a little miniature Poodle puppy from a pet shop as he has been there for more than 5 mths and nobody wanted him. I am against buying pets from pet shops especially when you do not know the specifics of where the pet comes from. It may be a product of a puppy mill :( etc. The last thing you want is to support a trade that makes money from the suffering of animals. Anyway I am not here to judge, but doing a favour for my cousin. It was an impromptu purchase and she was going away for a holiday. She already has another poodle who will be looked after at home by my cousin brother, while Koro, the new pup will come and stay with us along with Quinton & Reegan.

Koro, the miniature Poodle Puppy

A short post for a Quick walk at the Botanical Gardens

We are lucky to live so close to Botanical Gardens. Today we had an impromptu afternoon walk there. The reason is because I have been struck down by the cold bug for a few days now, which means no doggie outing for Quinton & Reegan. So finally the nose has stopped it's incessant flow and I can breathe normally again, it's time for a short outing today.

Exploring Singapore for dog-friendly places - Henderson Waves

Back to exploring Singapore to find new and interesting dog-friendly places with Quinton and Reegan. On a quiet friday morning, the family took the dogs out to explore Telok Blangah Hill Park. It is only a short drive from where we live, in the Southern part of Singapore.

Henderson waves actually is a bridge that links Telok Blangah Hill Park to Mount Faber Park. The whole area is known as the Southern Ridges, where you can do an extended walk (9km/5.6miles) linking the two parks mentioned and Kent Ridge Park and covers 8 trails. You can read more about it on this wikipedia entry.

Exploring Singapore for dog-friendly places - Bukit Batok Nature Park

Back when we were living in the UK, the dogs had a good life. We had a huge garden that was around 3 times the size of the dog run at Bishan Park, which means my Goldies could get a run around in the garden. Furthermore, we were only 5 minutes drive to Ampton racecourse in Ingham which covers 80 acres and is only used several times a year. Rest of the time, it is just a dog and dog's owner heaven where they can run free, chase pheasants, quails, rabbits and squirrels to their hearts delight. At the bottom of the field, there is a little church, a stream and more fields. Very picturesque and here are the pictures to proof that.

Dogs at the Ampton Racecourse

Golden Retrievers mini-gathering at the dog park

I had the privilege to meet 2 lovely Golden Retriever owners since beginning of this year.
They both have 2 Goldies each, one boy and one girl, just like me.


Anyway today, we have arranged to get our Goldies together. Miss J is the owner of beautiful Muzhen and Mulan while Miss L is the owner of Champagne and Chablis (and no, she is not an alcoholic..lol). Unfortunately Miss L lives in Malaysia, which means she can't bring her Goldies over to join in the gathering. Anyway, she still came along as she is the biggest fan of my two Goldies ever :)

Here are some pictures of all of them. Enjoy!!!

Reegan with her new friend, Mulan

Group shot from top: Quinton, Reegan, Muzhen and Mulan

A Typical Day at the Dog Park

Every fortnight, I will bring my two goldies to Bishan Dog Park to meet up with my friend who owns a lovely Singapore Special called Sun. I will try to bring them there at least once a week or more whenever I can. But the fortnightly outing is special for Reegan as Sun is one of few doggies that she gets along well with. Both of them love to chase each other around which is always funny to watch.

A typical start to the day is the dogs are taken out by my parents for their usual morning walk, by which time they get back, their 'outing' bag is packed. The contents include: a litre bottle of ice cold water, water bowl, a frisbee, 2 packets of home-baked liver cakes, a towel, poo bags and my water bottle. It is a little brown bag I got from buying mooncakes back in Hong Kong and ever since it's been the official doggie outing bag. The dogs are super smart and observant. As soon as they catch a glimpse of 'that' bag, they know immediately that they are going to get to go out!!! From that moment on, every step I take, I will have 2 dogs stalking me. They seem to think that if they loose sight of me, I will forget to take them out with me :)

Handsome Quinton