I left home at 5pm on a sunny Monday afternoon in June 2017 to travel the 2 hours or so to the small town of Villeneuve de Duras, south west of Bergerac.
My job this time was to collect an English Lemon Setter boy from a pension in the town and take him north to Huelgoat in Brittany. I had calculated that if I spent the first night within spitting distance of the pick up point I could do the whole journey in one go, with no need for the dog to spend a night in the car.
Fortunately, for this plan, I had identified a routier restaurant only 5 minutes away from the pension, so that was where I made my first destination.
The routier is on the edge of town with only car parking adjoining, but there is dedicated lorry park 200 metres away. That was my first stop and, after noting a couple of drivers already in attendance, I walked back up the gentle hill for my first apero of the day. It was very hot when I got there so I made it 2 cold beers instead of my usual kir.
The patron, an ex driver, was very welcoming and, along with 3 others, I took my place at the table for the good meal which was to follow.
Back 'home' and in bed to read for a while, by 9pm I was soon fast asleep. In the morning, having forgotten to ask the opening time I drove up to the resto at 7.30 but it was still shut and didn't look like opening soon.
So, it was straight down the little lane for 400 metres or so where I found the old house opposite a long nissen style farm building. Lola, la patronne, invited me into the garden for a welcome coffee while I was introduced to Balthazar, my first passenger of the day. I say first, because Suzie, the adopter up in Brittany, had asked me to collect another Setter, this time a Blue, from Cognac SPA on the way north. That would be at 10.30.
My job this time was to collect an English Lemon Setter boy from a pension in the town and take him north to Huelgoat in Brittany. I had calculated that if I spent the first night within spitting distance of the pick up point I could do the whole journey in one go, with no need for the dog to spend a night in the car.
Fortunately, for this plan, I had identified a routier restaurant only 5 minutes away from the pension, so that was where I made my first destination.
The routier is on the edge of town with only car parking adjoining, but there is dedicated lorry park 200 metres away. That was my first stop and, after noting a couple of drivers already in attendance, I walked back up the gentle hill for my first apero of the day. It was very hot when I got there so I made it 2 cold beers instead of my usual kir.
The patron, an ex driver, was very welcoming and, along with 3 others, I took my place at the table for the good meal which was to follow.
Back 'home' and in bed to read for a while, by 9pm I was soon fast asleep. In the morning, having forgotten to ask the opening time I drove up to the resto at 7.30 but it was still shut and didn't look like opening soon.
So, it was straight down the little lane for 400 metres or so where I found the old house opposite a long nissen style farm building. Lola, la patronne, invited me into the garden for a welcome coffee while I was introduced to Balthazar, my first passenger of the day. I say first, because Suzie, the adopter up in Brittany, had asked me to collect another Setter, this time a Blue, from Cognac SPA on the way north. That would be at 10.30.
While we chatted over our coffees Balthazar played athletically with a much larger and woolier dog. I missed the name of the breed but it was apparently from Portugal. I managed to get a few minutes of video of this exhibition from which I also later took a couple of snapshots.
https://youtu.be/22OcQhjBDXE
https://youtu.be/22OcQhjBDXE
All this lively and carefree behaviour belied the sad story behind him. I don't know it all, I seldom know this much, but he had been passed from rescue to adoption and back to refuge before being transferred to the temporary care of Lola
Then we were off up north. At 10.30 on the dot I pulled up outside the SPA where, not my usual contact but her friend, was waiting to bring Chico to the car. Brief formalities out of the way, and a couple of photos, and then it was the road north again. Chico is slightly smaller and chunkier than the lithe Balthazar but the 2 settled together in the car without any fuss.
Cognac is no problem for me as it lies on my preferred westerly route which afterwards takes me via Saintes and La Rochelle, where soon after there is a cheap filling station, and then to Nantes, Vannes and Lorient. There I turn due north and, after about another hour and a half, and 500 kms from Villeneuve, we pulled into the drive of Suzie's home in Huelgoat.
They have a large garden and field behind the house and, after introducing the 2 newbies carefully to the rest of the pack, we sat outside in the warm evening sunshine with cold drinks before us.
They have a large garden and field behind the house and, after introducing the 2 newbies carefully to the rest of the pack, we sat outside in the warm evening sunshine with cold drinks before us.
The pack is large and varied in size, but with a preponderance of Setters, and before long our 2 southerners were beginning to pair up with those most like them in temperament.
Before we ate, it was feeding time for the dogs, no mean feat with so many all at the same time. Chico was segregated with the smaller ones in the kitchen and tucked in with gusto, it was soon apparent why his bones weren't visible! He later even worked out how the handle to the supposedly impregnable food closet worked, something non of the others had cracked, and helped himself to a little after dinner snack. Balthy, as he was to become, was a little more reticent and took his time to properly digest. He later commandeered a large cushion on the floor of the spacious lounge and was content there till morning I think.
I don't 'do' breakfast, but a cup of coffee was most welcome before I took my leave and Simon watched the lane as I reversed out. Not to go far, just about 15 minutes to the home of another protege of mine, Aria (now Rosie), a young and very lively Dobermann girl. When I delivered her a couple of months before she and the resident adult male Dobie, Thor, had taken to each other immediately and had raced around the house and garden with dizzying speed. Today was no different and I managed a few more pictures of them as I lingered till noon before setting off for home.
The trip home was uneventful and, after a couple of quick stops for fuel where I know it is cheaper, I pulled into the garden at around 8pm.
Total Distance 1,352 kms
Total Distance 1,352 kms