You may remember that as we headed towards the UK on our last trip, our van developed a problem with the clutch. So we stopped in the southern French town of Narbonne and left the van for repair at the local Mercedes garage. Meanwhile, Courier Joe drove down from the UK to meet us in another of our vans, so that we could continue our journey.
Mercedes sorted the problem out within a few days, and courier Richard flew out to pick up the van and collect UK-bound pets in France.
Pastis
Courier Richard headed from Narbonne to Lyon, to collect adorable tabby cat Pastis. Along with owners Fabio and Laura, he was on his way to London, where Fabio has a new job.
Pastis proved to be an endearingly curious, well mannered cat, who was always up for a fuss. So courier Richard was quite happy to share his hotel room with Pastis — especially as it was well below freezing outside!
Sheep and sheepdog statues spotted in the wintry landscapes along the way
And here’s the shepherd, keeping an eye on everything
Pastis displaying the irresistible golden tummy that tabbies are often blessed with
Roxy, Benzema and Daisy
Also in the Lyon area, courier Richard caught up with French Bulldog duo Roxy and Benzema, and their companion Daisy, a tiny Chihuahua. Their destination, along with the rest of the family, was Newport in Wales.
Darling Daisy with her devoted fan club!
Roxy and Benzema
The whole doggy clan. Owner Julia wrote to say: “Thanks for taking such good care of our dogs! I know they can be a handful!”
And finally…
…an update on charming young Pedro, a rescue dog who recently travelled with us from Almeria in Spain to his forever home in Surrey. His story will feature in a BBC2 programme following the progress of 10 puppies being adopted by families around the UK.
Pedro seemed to take his meeting with new owner Rick under the camera’s gaze in his stride. Perhaps a doggy BAFTA is on the cards?
Am so looking forward to that television programme; if you find out when please post a reminder on your FB page
Oh, we are too! We’ll try to find out and will certainly let everyone know.
What a wonderful update on a beautiful bunch of passengers! I’m also VERY happy to report that we GOT AN EMAIL NOTICE OF THIS POST!!!! YAY!!!! That problem seems to be solved. Thanks!
Love, Pam and Angel Sam
We’ve been waiting with bated breath in the hope of hearing from you two – delighted that it’s working 😀
So glad you got rescued.
There’s a great support network through Europe for our vans. It was particularly useful that we were near friends!
Pastis is beautiful, and I love the doggy clan. Benzema sure has a mischievous smile on his face!
Good to see Pedro in his new home, and the rescue dogs will be getting some media coverage
Yes, it’s a very mischievous smile! We do look forward to the BBC programme.
Good news that van is on the mend and couriers are on the road again!!
Wonderful passengers as always and loved the sheep with their dog and shepherd…awesome.
Amazing Australian down under this year – it’s like a travel backwards through time. Slow and Pretty are holding their breaths for a Rafa – Roger final…keep it in the road!!
Courier Richard was particularly taken with the sculptures.
It’s a bit like Groundhog Day! Two Williams sisters, the Bryan brothers and a Rafa / Roger combination would make a clean sweep.
Daisy looks so tiny snuggled up between the other two!
I’m glad you got the van fixed!
Daisy does look gorgeous snuggled up — no doubt about who runs that gang 😉 It usually pays to stop early if you suspect something’s wrong. Certainly did this time.
Yes, it would be awful to break down when you have a van full of passengers.
I love the name Pastis… it fits perfectly to my neighbor whiskey :o)… maybe then we only needed a friend with the name hangover :O)))))
We’ve had Asti and Spumante as passengers too! What a cocktail we could produce 😀
What a lovely group 🙂 My Niece LOVES Frenchies and was tickled when I showed her these two with their tiny friend 🙂 So excited that there is television program about Pedro! Glad your van is up and running again! I got my notification in my E-mail too!
Aren’t the Frenchies and their little friend a wonderful group! We do hope to be able to link up to the show when it’s aired — just the kind of publicity rescue pups need. We’re delighted our email reached you — let’s hope that’s the worst of the wordpress muddle over 😉
I think someone is getting very famous soon 🙂 The picture of the little one in the middle of the….doggie clan is so cute and we really loved the pictures again, Annie. We’re glad the van is working properly again. Granny says it is always scary when there is something wrong with the car. Pawkisses for a wonderful Day and a safe travel..always! 🙂 <3
Let’s hope that Pedro and the other pups get very famous 😀 The little doggie in the middle is jolly cute. We’re always relieved when repairs are done quickly and nobody is stranded!
Patis iss a luvly tabby an thee tummy fur iss golden….
An thee wee Chihuahua iss adoorabull!!! Daisy iss thee ame color as LadyMum’ss Chihuahua was yearss ago….
An HURRAH fur Pedro…hee’ss goin to bee a Tee Vee *star*!!!!
Wishin efurryone safe travelss.
***nose kissesss*** Siddhartha Henry xxxx
Daisy sure has her protectors! Can’t wait to see the TV programme…
You’ll have to let us know about the show – I have no idea if we’ll be able to watch it in the U.S. We have a BBC Channel and sometimes get other programs from the BBC on random channels.