I found it difficult to leave Saint-Flour, because it was so pleasant drinking coffee in a café by the market. The locals had already started on the aperitifs and beers by the time I reluctantly dragged myself away.
I had to get going because it would take at least 4 hours to drive to my next stopover in Tours.
It was another lovely drive, at least for the first part through the Massif Central. I arrived in time to join Mary and Paul for Jude’s 14th birthday tea.
The following morning I took Lottie for her vet check-up and worm treatment for re-entry to the UK. Her Italian passport is full but the local health authority in Lazio won’t replace it unless it’s stolen or lost.
They unhelpfully told me to use the “miscellaneous” section instead and even threatened to fine me for not reporting her move from Molise to Lazio!
Because I constantly have problems at the border because of the passport being full, I got an animal health certificate before I left the UK as well (cost £175) as I can’t afford to be refused admission.
Until we left the EU, none of this was a problem because Lottie also had a European pet passport (that wasn’t full) issued in the UK. Yet another Brexit headache…
After the vet, Mary took me to Vouvray to pick up a case of… Vouvray!
The next leg of the journey from Tours to Abbeville went uneventfully, apart from negotiating the Paris outskirts and getting lost because of roadworks. The Sat nav always gets stumped by new road layouts.
This morning I breakfasted for the last time on coffee and madeleines and made the Eurotunnel in plenty of time.
I had the predictable wrangle about Lottie’s pet passport at the border and in the end had to produce the animal health certificate. This time I was more assertive about being unable to replace the passport unless it was lost or stolen and the animal border guards advised me to try getting a new blank passport from a French vet. In France, the passports are issued by vets, not the health authorities, as they are in Italy.
I feel this difference in pet passport rules between different countries needs sorting out as I can’t be the only one having problems.
2022 and all that 