Holiday in South Brittany with our dogs..

I think I am looking forward to our holiday..we have booked a gite over the August Bank Holiday week. A very dog friendly self catering gite which also welcomes well behaved yoomans. Think we must be mad! Really love the idea of a lake on our doorstep where we can swim with our dogs!

http://www.gitessouthbrittany.com/where.htm

 

How strange is that - we went there at the end of June/beginning of July with Juno . It's really lovely to have secure garden for a dog to be in and there's also the field that you can play in with the doggie paddling pool. Some lovely walks through woods, the lake is a lovely walk, not too long, and 2 small sandy beaches which are great for swimming from and water retrieves. The lake is around 20 minutes from the gite (that's nothing here in France) and is only around 10 minutes from La Roche Bernard for shopping in the Carrefour. Also some lovely quiet beaches around as well although dogs have to be on lead ........ although if there's no one around who's to know.

It was really hot when we were there although not sure what their weather is like at the moment as we're getting lots of rain showers and thunder today.

Which route are you taking to get there? If you want any other info, feel free to message me

 

MaccieD that's great that you have been there too! We are going via the Eurotunnel...

 

Have you got the directions from Elaine yet as she says not to follow the route that GPS comes up with. The journey wasn't too bad for us - only around 2.5 to 3 hours but then we've got a head start being in Normandy around 40 minutes from Caen already. Think the worst part of the drive from Eurotunnel are the tolls particularly if you don't have much change.

 

Looks amazing Kate. Very jealous

 

That looks fab!
And what a coincidence

 

Looks gorgeous Kate, I hope you all have a fantastic time xx

 

Looks fantastic

 

I don't know if this will help anyone, but when we went to France this year, we used a Sanef toll tag. You don't stop at tolls, but you can drive through them and pay on your bank account later when you get home. Here are two links.

Special offer if using Channel Tunnel: http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/traveller-info/sanef-tolling/
or direct from: https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/

We also used our Tesco coupons for the Euro tunnel and it only cost Reg (my om) me and the car £7.50 return. Fred cost £19 because they don't take Tesco coupons for dogs!

See Euro tunnel site for Tesco coupons.

We had a wonderful time and are going again next year.Hope that will help you.

 

I keep meaning to look into the tags for the tolls and keep forgetting as we don't use the motorways that much.

I word of warning, keep a close eye on traffic conditions around Calais and Eurotunnel as there are lots of problems at the moment - hopefully will be resolved by the time of your holiday

 

That looks really nice, never thought of going abroad with my girl definitely an idea for the future. Thanks for sharing the link.

 

All set to leave this Saturday...last minute change...now going for the Normandie Express. Wasn't worth the risk of long delays at Calais, especially so close to the Bank Holiday.
So excited..but phew! What a lot of preparation! Think second time round it will be better. Have a GoPro camera for the dogs..only the basic model, but should be hilarious!

 

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time! Hope the trip there goes smoothly

 

Have a lovely time

 

Have a wonderful time Kate. Fingers crossed that the weather is improving for you. Safe crossing and drive.

 

And we are back!

We had just the most amazing time! Changed our mind re: crossing via Calais, and opted for the Normandie Express...which was a 3 hour crossing Portsmouth to Cherbourg. One night in Cherbourg then a drive down to our gite.

The dogs were great, I think maybe I assumed that Benson would tackle most things, and hadn't proofed him enough on lead, meeting strange objects or people doing activities he was not used to. Benson was a bit uncomfortable with fishermen around the ports, and reacted with an anxious growl when he came across a blue fishing net. Luckily the fisherman kindly hid the net on our return, he was concerned he had upset our dog! The French were very relaxed, and this suited Casper who loved wandering the streets and stopping off for a drink and bite to eat (from anybody! ) Casper was an absolute star, not reacting to anything, even a couple of cyclists that came a bit close, So we are now wondering if it is just open spaces that bother him.

Anyhow....here are some photos...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/121553523@N07/albums/72157657792929199

 

Beanwood absolutely love your photos. It sounds like you had a great time. I'll definitely be going in the future.

 

Beanwood so pleased you enjoyed La Belle Vilaine. Some great action shots from the Agility course - are the collies Elaine's girls? Looks as if the boys had great fun in the lake and at the beach, the lake was one of our favourite places to visit with Juno.

 

Looks a wonderful place for a doggy holiday.

 

It looks just wonderful.