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I know it’s rude to stare, but I can’t take my eyes off what’s going on at the next table. A waiter in a vest with a medal around his neck is brutally but painstakingly butchering a barely roasted duck at a table of four Frenchmen to my left. I can’t look away, except to look at the dog who is also – predictably – fascinated by the wading bird anatomy lesson.
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I tighten my grip on Artie’s trail if he decides to attack and try not to worry about the medieval silver torture device attached to a nearby trailer.
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I didn’t happen to have dinner at the butcher’s. I am in Rouen, the capital of the Normandy region in northern France, where I ducked
– Stuffed duck cooked in a sauce made from its own blood, port and brandy is a delicacy.
While the dog would like to be able to get the ribs around the bird, I am less enthusiastic. I go back to my bottle of Beaujolais and look at the next day’s itinerary instead. I have to plan, because tomorrow we have to catch a train, and another one after that, and then some more, because thanks to a new initiative by Byway Travel, I’ve crossed the continent completely car-free with a canine companion – something that until recently was a logistical nightmare.
Traveling Europe with a dog but without your own car is not as simple as hopping on the Eurostar. Although dogs are allowed on trains across the UK, Eurostar has a rather surprising no-dogs policy. Before the pandemic, dog owners wishing to travel to France still had to travel by car via ferry or through the Channel Tunnel or book a dog-friendly cabin on the DFDS Newcastle-Amsterdam ferry or P&O’s Hull-Rotterdam service. passenger.
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Not only are the latter options more expensive, but getting to and from the port can be tricky even with a dog in tow. For dog owners without their own vehicle, the continent has long felt much more distant than the 21 kilometers it takes to cross the Strait of Dover.
But Byway’s new dog-friendly, car-free, flight-free journeys have opened up Europe to travelers on foot and made exploring the continent by train a real and fun possibility. Our journey began in Marylebone, London, where the Holmes Hotel provided a dog bed and boarding the night before our early train. Then, after a brisk, autumnal walk through the crisp foliage of Regent’s Park, we headed to St Pancras for our train to Ashford International. This is where Byway Tours gets smart, taking advantage of a relatively new service run by an American named Brenda: Le Pet Express.
After getting stuck in France with her pets while flying from the US (on her way to move to London for a cyber security job at the London Stock Exchange), Brenda was inspired to set up her pet-friendly minibus for the cars she wants fewer passengers to cross between the UK and France in 2021 finally moved the computer servers into a customized minibus with boxes on one side and individual seats on the other, so that passengers can sit with their pets at all times, and now does the daily service. between Ashford and Calais.
She picked up a group of us in her red bus outside the train station (three dogs, one cat, and four humans in total), took us to check in at the LeShuttle pet counter as if we were on a school trip, and then checked us in. us at Calais-Frethun station for our onward journey to France. It may sound simple, but video is huge. Luckily, it’s Brenda’s job to worry – all we had to do was show the pet passports (or animal health certificates) and relax on the bus.
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However, before that you still have to find your way around, as traveling in Europe with animals is a bit more difficult than in the pre-Brexit days. All pets now need a valid EU issued veterinary health certificate or pet passport (Artie and I traveled to Ireland earlier this year to get ours). There are rules about what can and can’t be brought into the country – for example, meat-based dog food may be banned so you’ll need to switch to a vegan or insect-based alternative such as Hownd or Grub Club – and your vet must give your pet an anti-worm pill within five days of your arrival in Britain
There are also rules for dogs on trains in France: they must officially fit in a small carrier or larger dogs must be muzzled and on a leash at all times. In reality, this is hardly done, and traveling on an air-conditioned double-decker train in Israel is a real pleasure, whether you have a dog with you or not.
Dog rides on the Byway should improve a bit. We were originally booked into a hotel that was a 40-minute walk from the nearest green space – this was changed on request – and later learned that our destination, Rouen, is not the most dog-friendly city, as you cannot travel with dogs on buses or trams. But it’s still a great way to get into the continent stress-free. Just choose your destination wisely and give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the land – the 12 hours it took to get home seemed a little excessive for our three night trip, so next time we’ll stay longer – and I imagine Barty will make sure they let’s count the duck.
Lottie Gross was a guest of the Holmes Hotel and Byway Travel. A three-night trip to Rouen by Byway costs from £892 per person including all trains from London St Pancras, the Le Pet Express service and three nights’ accommodation.
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Please refresh the page or go to another page on the website to sign in automatically. Refresh your browser to connect with Singapore – the photos show Jackie lounging by the iconic Venetian canals, posing in front of the iconic Colosseum and even looking at Michelangelo’s famous David Drier at Florence’s Accademia Gallery.
It’s what tourists would normally do in these destinations, except Jackie is no ordinary tourist – she’s a two-year-old West Highland Terrier from Singapore.
Meanwhile, Freckles, an Australian Shepherd, has been roaming the fields of Austria, hiking across the mountains of Norway and camping in the desert against the majestic backdrop of the Dolomites in Italy.
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Far from living a dog’s life, these happy Singaporean pups who travel the world with their owners leave iconic moments in the heart and in the hearts and memories of their families, despite the many obstacles placed in their way in and out. country of destination. .
Although official figures on pets entering and leaving Singapore were not available at the time of reporting, veterinary clinics and pet transporters told The Straits Times that they are seeing increased interest from owners looking to take their furry friends overseas.
Attributing the rise in the number of people taking their pets on holiday to the development of social media, the service provider has seen an increase in the number of interested parties seeking its services following the lifting of Covid-19 measures. At the time, it received up to five applications a week, compared to five to 10 applications a year before the pandemic.
Jackie’s owners, Mr Ang Chun Boon, chief financial officer, and Ms Pravina, head of compliance, both 33, told ST they had always intended to take her on holiday.
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“We really didn’t feel comfortable leaving Jackie behind and wanted to experience exploring a new country with her,” they said in an Instagram interview.
She is very attached to us and we don’t want her to ever feel like we have ‘abandoned her’, they said.
Ms Pravina with Jackie in a van at Changi Airport on her way to a plane to Italy on March 7, 2023. Photo: JACKIE.THE.WESTIE/INSTAGRAM
“I think she definitely enjoyed the many walks, meets, greetings and admiration from so many people,” they said, praising the country’s pet-friendly culture as an “incredible experience”.
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“We never had a problem sitting inside on balconies, in Austrian or even fancy restaurants. We even managed to ride a gondola together in Venice!”
During the trip, Jackie’s daily walks took much longer than usual, as her owners took notice and adjusted their activities accordingly.
Four-year-old Freckles’ first trip on board was to Norway in June 2022 with her owner, Ms. Shirlene Ang and her husband.
Ms Ang, 33, a real estate agent, told ST that Freckles enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors in Singapore, hiking in Clementi Forest and Bukit Brown.
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“We always intended to travel with her as we did.”
