Driving for the first time. Stop-over suggestions

A snowHead

Hi. Myself, the wife and dog are spending 60 days in the 3 valleys next season.

First time driving.
Looking for a midway over night stay in France, dog friendly and somewhere with safe parking as car will be loaded up with all our worldly stuff.

Any suggestions please.

A snowHead

@Casa, where midway is rather depends on where you are starting from.

Welcome to Snowheads white you are at it.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Valid point.
Coming from West Sussex and getting euro tunnel.
Somewhere midway between Calais and 3 Valleys.

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@@Casa, What time do you plan to leave? We normally stop in Troyes with enough time to have something to eat and then drive the rest of the way the next day. So about 4 hours on the first day from home (+ crossing time) and then about 6 the next.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Nothing has been set in stone yet.
We need to book euro tunnel as we have Tesco club points that are due to expire.
Can leave uk whenever really preferably on the Friday.
Can’t get keys to our chalet until 4pm on the Saturday

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I tend to get a 9pm Chunnel and most recently stayed in Arras. Dijon is a good spot close to the autoroute with a lot of options. I got that far in the past with a late afternoon Chunnel.

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@sharky can you recommend hotels?
Safe parking is a must.

After all it is free

I did once stop at Hôtel de la Gare in Troyes. The car park was underground and since it took a lot of effort to get in I would say extremely secure. However, I must say this was the only time we stopped willingly on our way to the Alpes and we have done the journey dozens of times. We just fancied having a look around the old town. TBH I find it a real bind stopping and just want to get there. It is, afterall, a very straightforward drive.

I have no idea whether the dogs are friendlly - sorry

@Casa, hi - we have stayed countless times at the Val Moret which is just south of Troyes and a couple of minutes from the A5 J22, when we travelled to Les Gets, and also to Tignes and Ste Foy. We had our dog with us in latter years. There is a barrier/gate that they close at night and we never worried about our car which would be really loaded.

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Some options to look at. Thank you.
One reason for an overnight stay is for the dog. With brexit we now have to go and get a pet passport once we are in France
Something else I need to look into.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Like many Snowheads I have also used Val Moret a lot. I leave Oxford around 9 and get to the Val Moret at about 5 after a leisurely drive. Just a few minutes off the autoroute, car park locked at night and an excellent restaurant.

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Val Moret looks a great option. I need to email and make sure dogs are still allowed as no mention on their website.

Is it the Clubcard points which are due to expire or the voucher obtained with them? If it's the points, exchange them for the voucher and you will have a year to use it. n.b. It's worth exchanging points before the middle of June anyway, as they're becoming more stingy - 2x instead of 3x. Apologies if you know all this.

You know it makes sense.

Pink job in my house. Eh oh!

I’ll pass that info onto her thank you, but I do recall her saying something similar which is why she has asked me to think about what days we will be travelling.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

I’m not sure. I just know the pet passport we had is no longer valid due to brexit.
Looking into what we have to do.

A snowHead

Val Moret all day , great food and as you going for 60 days might as well start with a treat

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Val moret have confirmed dogs so that looks like a goer.

Now need to sort
Tunnel
Dog passport
Motorway tag.

All suggestions welcomed.

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@Casa, you'll need an Animal Health Certificate to take the dog with you. Abbeywell Vets in Folkestone do them for about £99. It needs issued less than 10 days before travel and is valid for 4 months. Still need tapeworm treatment on your way home. If you have a French address, you can probably get a French passport for him/her while you are there. Depends on the vet.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Casa, We start from West Sussex (near Gatwick, so probably as close to tunnel as you can be in W Sussex) with our pooch regularly. Door to door it’s 12 hours to the 3V. We just go for it in one hit, starting v early for a 6.20am crossing, sharing the drive and just stopping for fuel and loo breaks. Our Jack Russell is very tolerant of the trip and mostly snoozes, which makes it very easy. Technically you can’t take meat based products (I.e. dog food) with you for the trip, but we’ve never had an issue.
If you do get a french passport, make sure you get a rabies jab booster in France at the same time or before returning.
We have a tag account with Emovis https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/, which bills monthly in the months you use it. There are other companies that do them, and I’ve never checked who does the best deal.
We used Clinique Vétérinaire du Chiriac in Albertville for our pet passport (we have a french address). This was in the early days of post Brexit travel. Like many vets both side of the channel, no-one was completely sure of everything required. Hence our dog’s U.K. rabies jab was recorded on the passport, even though it predated the passport. This worked for about 5 trips, until it was spotted at Calais last summer. (Thankfully a quick cash job for a rabies booster at a vet in Calais sorted the problem). Though we have used a vet in Moutiers for the return worming tablet, the staff at the Albertville vets are lovely. I’ve no idea if they are being a bit stricter now regarding granting pet passports to U.K. dogs , but if you have a rental agreement showing a french address that might help if any issues are raised.

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@perty. Some great info thank you. Reason for the stop over is the wife isn’t a confident driver, also we are in no rush.

Regarding the dog, when was the last time you traveled with the dog?
Lots of mixed info on the web.

I believe we need to :-
Get rabies jab done in uk
Obtain animal health cert in uk 10 days before travel.
Drive to France a visit reception at Calais.
Get a tape worm pill 1-5 days before coming home.

I’d read about meat, I hoped we should be able to get away with it.

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@Casa, I’m pretty sure you will need a U.K. rabies jab for the AHC, but you absolutely do need a booster one done in France at the same time or after you get the french pet passport. I guess it probably isn’t a good idea to do both within a few weeks of each other. If the french rabies jab is the dog’s first he has ever had(which I don’t think it will be as you will have done one in the U.K.), you would have to wait 28 days before travel back to the U.K. So I guess it’s a good idea to get the U.K. based rabies jab at least 28 days before getting the AHC/setting off to France.
We have done the return trip 3 times already with pooch in tow this year, last time we came back on 13th April.
Yes, you need the tape worm tablet 1-5 days before travel back to the U.K. I think the vets in the 3V are pretty switched onto what is required, but I do know of someone whose dog was given the wrong kind of worming tablet (another trip to vet in Calais and a 24 hour layover).
Definitely go to a vet in the U.K. who is experienced in completing the AHC. I guess they still need access to your dog’s veterinary records . We got our first (and only) one in late June 2021. Given the pandemic it was very early days post the end of the Brexit transition for any vet to complete the form. Ours passed muster for travel but while we were in France the U.K. vet phoned to say they thought they hadn’t stamped the 10 page form properly. It didn’t matter to us as we had the EU pet passport by then.

This all makes it seem v complicated. It isn’t, as long as the vets know what they are doing! Spud is a seasoned traveller and LOVES taking us a walk to the rabbit warren by the queue on the Calais side of the channel. Here he is, waiting for departure time! Smile

After all it is free

@Perty, when we used Abbeywell for our dog's rabies vaccine, we used their old passports as clinical info, but there was an option to ask local vet for their details if needed. We used a different local vet for Odin's recently, and just took his vaccination record which included his rabies.

Best source of advice is the UK government website. https://www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-abroad/travelling-to-an-eu-country-or-northern-ireland

and for the return journey https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain

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@Casa, not sure where you are in the glorious West Sussex (well it is this weekend) but you could look at passpets.co.uk who are in Havant. Lots of info on their website.
[It is run by friends of the son of a sH - first met him when he was about 12, now a qualified doctor, how time flies.]

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@pamski, that web address is invalid.
@perty great info. Will pass onto the pink department. Eh oh!

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Do you mean passpets (I assume predictable text changed it)

@Casa, Yes sorry I have corrected it now.

You know it makes sense.

I’m in Worthing so not too far. Thank you.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A snowHead

Holiday Inn Express Saint Apolinaire, just outside Dijon. It's about 5 minutes off the A31.
Pet friendly and has a gated car park which is closed overnight. We've stayed there plenty of times with our Boxer without any issues. There is a small grass area round the back of the hotel where you can exercise them.

From there, it'll be about 4 hours to the 3V.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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I'm another val Moret regular - just booked our outbound/return stays there this summer. If you do go for the val Moret (or any Logis de France), join the ETIK loyalty scheme some time before the trip: it's a fairly good scheme where you ramp up euro credits with each stay and meal. This trip, we'll get around €6 for the hotel each night and then something on top for the meal. You just cash your credits in 1:1 for a voucher, the minimum being €15. I've just printed out a €30 voucher from last year's trips. If you buy some of the local Champagne from the reception when you check out, you'll get credit for that too. It all helps.

Magnant is in the southern Champagne area and there are lots of caves around, but you generally have to make a booking and it obviously takes time. I've found that the prices at the val Moret for take-away are pretty reasonable and we always pick up a few bottles on the way home for special events. But it's more a case of getting something that would cost a lot more at home, rather than cheap as such e.g. €22-€39/bottle for something I'm sure would be £35-£50 at home.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Goes without saying that hope everyone here is well, haven't posted for yonks/years Embarassed

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Another +1 for Val Moret. used multiple times.

Will be there in 7 days time too - taking advantage of the overnight on-site EV charging as well as the food.

After all it is free

@igLou,

Our return journey has us stopping at
Logis Auberge des Moissons, Route Nationale, 51510 Matougues, France, which is between Reims and Chalon.

Have stayed for one night once before, visiting the champagne region, and all very acceptable, enough so we're happy to return.

Alternatively Logis Au Pre du Moulin (see booking.com or indeed a google maps search finds it) a few miles slightly further south: is fabulous, and if it had local access to EV charging (and wasn't already booked up on our particular dates) would be our first choice.

@Casa, Its easier to take a horse:

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I've stayed at Moulin des Ruats, Avalon, which is lovely. They show on their website "accepted animals". Not sure what that means. It's also not really half way.

Help!!

Driving for the first time. Stop-over suggestions

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