Carbón's Big Adventure (aka Labratour Part IV)

I think Pongo has already expressed his view of things on the Random Hoomans thread. I'd hate to steal his thunder. (Or Emily's @Emily_BabbelHund .) Suffice to say I'm still giggling.

 

Ha Ha, ah yes, I remember reading that now @Rosie

 

Another very full couple of days at Beanwood filled with lots of dog antics and very little Forum posting - sorry about that! I've got so many great photos and stories (I owe @Rosie a good one ) but seem to crash into bed at 11-midnight each night and think "tomorrow". As a result, this last Labratour is going to be more 'throwback' than 'real time'.

I'm heading back towards Germany tomorrow with Señor Carbón and hopefully he will forgive me for tearing him away from Beanwood, not to mention Monty, Harley, Nellie, Molly, Pongo, Holly and Cassie. How could I?!! Poor, poor Carbon. I will have to bribe him with lots of sausages and swims in the Danube. But first I'll bribe us both with the beach as we make a two night stop on the coast in France for one last romp before being landlocked in Bavaria for the summer.

Meanwhile it seems Vizzy (Paul) is having a grand old time down in Devon with his family and a meet up with another Spanish Bodeguero adopted through the same rescue group. Made my day seeing the photos and videos pop up in my FB. So happy for this little man.

 

Safe travels then Emily and Carbon, Cassie is a lucky girl to have spent some time with you both and me too of course!

 

Safe travels to you both. Look forward to seeing you both in a few months xx

 

What amazing adventures Carbon has had, he is such a lucky boy as is Paul. You are certainly a 'dog angel'. I am so filled with admiration of your courage and tenacity, you are living life to the full x

 

What a trip!! I’ll be in your neck of the woods, kind of - Berlin for the weekend to see The Rolling Stones! If you happen to pass through Berlin...

Safe travels.

PS Dog sitter insisted I leave a proper list for caring for Snowie. She takes it very seriously. We can therefore relax on our holiday!

 

Carbon and I had a lovely morning with Kate @Beanwood and a last rather subdued walk with all the dogs. Carbon knew something was up and I think both of us weren't too pleased about leaving such good friends, two and four-legged. But it was time to go and face the music in Germany (for me) and time for Carbon to learn about the joys of swimming in the Danube and hunting for fallen bratwurst in beer gardens.

It was beautifully sunny on the UK side of the Channel and I couldn't wait to get Carbon to the same beach that we'd visited on the trip over with Paul. Alas, it was not to be as our train got cancelled and then we had to wait an hour for the next available crossing. By the time we got to Calais, we had to drive straight through to our accommodation for the evening or else we would have missed check in time.

On this side of the Channel, at least where we are, it's foggy and about ten degrees cooler than it was in Folkestone. So take heart, UK people, France currently has worse weather by far than you do! The flat I rented for two nights is minuscule but clean and very dog-friendly. The beach - which we visited tonight before bed - is a bit depressing, but Carbon still had a romp. I think we may head back towards Calais and the Opal Coast again tomorrow as the cliff walks and little villages were more my thing.

Carbon looking very bored as we're stuck in the train for over an hour...


A very empty and foggy Stella-Plage...

 

Carbon has had quite the adventurous vacation! Night and day from his old life...I'm so happy for him! Are dogs allowed to get out of the car on the train?

 

How does this car in train business work? Do you sit in the car for the whole crossing? Do the car carriages have windows? In my head I'm imagining it like a shipping container, but I'm sure it's not!

 

The passenger car trains are double or single level - so double level for small cars like mine. You just drive along what looks pretty much like a normal train station platform and then are directed into the correct entry door, either staying on 'ground' level or driving up on a ramp to the top level. Lorries/transport trucks and caravans go into different trains - I imagine they are just one level and maybe have wider entry doors. The inside of the trains are just big empty spaces, so imagine a regular train with no seats. There are very narrow raised walkways on either side of the carriage, but mainly it's just a space for the cars. A staff person directs you to park within just a few inches of the car in front of you.

Then pretty much you just sit there for 40 minutes. There are small windows on either side of the carriage, but once you are in the tunnel, there's nothing to see but the tunnel walls. You can get out of the car, but the only reason really is to use the WC or stretch your legs as there's no where to go. In theory, dogs are allowed to get out of the car (I didn't see/hear anything telling me not to) but there's no where for them to go. Each carriage has doors that automatically close, so it's not like they could run along the whole train.

Normally the crossing is so fast - 35 minutes - that by the time you've checked your email or programmed your satnav for the next bit of the trip, it's all over and you're getting ready to drive back off the train. Yesterday was long because our train had 'technical difficulties' so everyone on that train had to wait then disembark then wait then re-embark. Carbon slept through the whole thing, though - good boy!

On the bright side, this morning is a lovely sunshiny day, so looks perfect for lots of beach walks before our two more 6 hour drive days to Germany!

 

Hope the rest of your journey goes well and you’re not just stuck with coke and crisps this time! It’s lovely to see Carbon flourishing (in a relaxed fashion!) and enjoying his new life.

 

Berlin's actually about a 7 hour drive, so a bit of a trek. Only 5 hours on the train, though. When are you coming through? Don't you want to add a tour to Bavaria on to your visit to enjoy some southern charm?

 

Thanks, Stacia...not so sure about living life to the full but certainly meeting a lot of lovely friends and putting a lot of miles on my car.

We should try for a meet up/walkies next time - I didn't realize how close to Kate that you are!

 

No Coke and crisps as I've planned for little flats with kitchens for the rest of the trip and then rolling into my regular place in Regensburg on Saturday. Then I need to get healthy...goal for the summer is to be in better shape for the next trip to the UK. Carbon says he'll help.

 

We eat our sandwiches and have a drink

 

Once again tons of photos from yesterday and once again I just fell into bed when getting back to our accommodation at about 10:30pm. It was our last full beach day AND beautiful weather, so I didn't want to miss any of it. We ended up going back north to Calais and the Opal Coast and though it didn't make sense travel-wise (and hour back in the direction we'd just come from) it was a great choice for the day as we spent the day exploring the area between Cap Gris Nez and Cap Blanc Nez (Cape Grey Nose and Cape White Nose). Amazing area just 20 minutes from the Eurotunnel and well worth an explore for anyone making the Calais - Folkestone crossing.

Interestingly, we seem to be back in a land that dislikes black dogs. Though the beaches are nearly empty and the dogs we've encountered have been off leash (indeed there are no dog or leash restrictions on the beaches we visited) we seemed to encounter a majority of grumbly dog owners. Or this could just be France as Brogan never got a sterling reception here when he was alive either.

However, last night on the beach we met a lovely couple whose Labrador had passed five years ago and they couldn't get enough of Carbon. They were so sweet and thought he was just tops. Unfortunately for their sakes, he was (1) tired from already spending 8 hours at various beaches and (2) some crazy man was playing the bagpipes - badly - from a nearby sand dune and Carbon was completely hypnotised by the sound. That meant that Carbon's usual waggy bum greeting turned into a perfect sit and lots of head ratchets in the direction of the unearthly sounds. The poor couple got pretty much ignored!

One plus of having a black dog was that a strange man followed me over the dunes at our first stop yesterday. I thought he was just going where we were, but then realised that I'd taken a dead end path and that he was following us. I took the 'be friendly and polite even though someone is creeping you out' approach but when he outright asked me, "Aren't you afraid to be out here all by yourself?", I replied, "Not with my dog," in a way to imply that Carbon would take his face off if he tried anything, then I pushed past him on the path and continued back in the direction where I knew there would be more people. That seemed to work but it shook me a little. Once I've gotten to a certain age (and weight), the advantage has been hardly any of these creepy encounters as I'm no longer young and cute and don't look rich enough to have anything to steal. At least on this occasion, the guy took the implied threat about Carbon seriously and stopped following me.

Today we'll have time for one last beach visit in Normandy before heading inland and towards Germany. Tonight we're in a strange little flat in a chateau village in the middle of no where and then tomorrow it's home to Regensburg. Not quite ready for the travels to be over, but it will be nice to have clean clothes, not have to do the doggie duvet switch nearly every day and work on removing some poundage acquired from my less then ideal travel diet.

But before we hit Germany, one more day in France!

 

Crikey Emily, how terrifying to be followed like that! My heart was in my mouth (still is). Very glad he was afraid of Carbon. Please take care

 

Be careful Emily, glad Carbon was with you. Enjoy your last day in France and photos please

 

Oh how vile. I usually clip the dog in and keep them close in those kind of encounters. My boys will bark if strange men get to close in those situations.
Hope you get hope soon after you epic journey soon xx