Hotspur

How about Nantes. Again a good tram system and the bars seemed to be ok during the rugby world cup.

[quote user="Fi"]My springer is now 13 ish (we are his 4th set of owners so we are not entirely sure!).  In the last few days he has started pooping in the house which he has never done before.  It's as if he can't hold on for long enough to be let out.  I am pretty quick at getting him through the door normally, but he seems to have lost control.  The other manifestation is that he gets up in the night and leaves presents for the unwary, which again is completely new behaviour.  We haven't changed his diet, there is no new stress in his life (plenty in mine being on permanent poop-patrol!) so the only thing I can think of is that this is yet another manifestation of age - his hearing is very poor, and he creaks and groans like a ship.  He hates going to the vet, and I hate paying for the vet, but I will take him if necessary.  Any thoughts? Thanks Fi [/quote] This is definitely a sign of old age. Our 11 year old shepherd/newfoundland cross has started to do this and our vet confirms its a symptom of old age. We find frequent short walks are a help, as the sight of a lead seems to get him going. This seems to be a male dog thing as previously we owned 2 bitches who lost control of of their urinary system but were otherwise ok.

Oh but they do. Before passports came in, our vet made a single digit error writing the chip number down. They faxed both our vet and DEFRA to ensure we caught our shuttle. This Christmas, a French owner in front of us had an old style Passport which did not include her dog's chip number. The staff arranged an appointment with a local vet to issue a new passport for the then rather distraught owner, who thought she would have to leave her precious Fifi (or whatever) behind.

Came through on Sunday, they are are now operating 2 trains every 2 hous. On Sunday I was booked on the 16:50 but was transferred to a train running at 17:25, the next train was at 17:30 and then after that at 19:25 and 19:30. A word of warning, Eurotunnel said they would contact me by email with the revised timings of my booking. In fact they sent a letter to me on the 7th of October although my departure date was the 22nd of September! Do what I did and phone customer services to a precise time for your train.

In the UK, by law, a vet must issue you with a prescription free of charge, for any drug your animal needs, rather than supply it him or herself. This then allows you to buy that drug from whereever you can get it the cheapest. For instance our dog requires a daily dose of cyclosporin (Optimmune) which costs us £48 per month from the vet but which we could buy online for only £18 (we're not mad our insurance policy at the moment covers the cost of this). I'm not sure if this is the case in France but it would be worthwhile investigating. As regards using human drugs in animals, I am very dubious of this. Through the 1980s I was invoved in veterinary research, and although an animal medicine may contain the same active ingredient the formulation to make it acceptable in an animal was often very different. The physiology's of humans and dogs are quite different and often you need systems to slow down drug uptake in animal medicines which are not required in human medicines. This partly accounts for the higher prices of animal medicines, although I would agree that small animal medicines are scandalously high. if you follow this link http://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/products.asp?sc=metacam&sop=search&gclid=CNmulYCo4ZUCFQyD1QodEH4_XQ you will find an online supplier of mtacam, but again I'm not sure they will supply you in France

We go to very good vets in Rouillac who look after our dog splendidly (he is now on his second Pet Passport).  You can get full contact details from this link  http://maison-jardin.118000.fr/v_rouillac_16/c_veterinaire Dr Beau speaks English fairly well.

Ryanair have announced Stansted to Angouleme to start this spring.  Finally!

[quote user="lacote0_0"][quote user="Hotspur"] Hi, I travel to Rouillac - Charente using the tunnel (best for the dog) several times a year, and I can drive it in about 6.5 hours from unloading to arrival at my front door.  This includes 2 stops (Baie de Somme and Alencon) which take about 45 mins in total.  I would admit to doing 140 kph on the autoroutes and 120 kph on the N10 and I always go through Rouen (this is a doddle and I can't understand where the problem is - just follow the signs). Previously I used to use Brittany Ferries to either St. Malo or Caen.  St Malo is about 4.5 hours to Rouillac and Caen about 5 hours but this will reduce with the progressive opening of the A88. [/quote] Beware, the number of cameras is set to double in the next 2 years, and there is talk of reducing the autoroute speeed limit to 120 kph! [/quote] Yeah, but they're the size of a wardrobe and are well announced!  I too, read an article about lowering the speed limit but it was only proposed by the Green party. I don't think it would be a very popular move for the main line politicians, if the letters page in the Charente Libre is any thing to go by.  A French colleague tells me that the police are only interested if you exceed the speed limit by 20 kph and knowing how car speedometers generally overestimate speed, I feel 140 kph is probably nearer 130 kph anyway. 

The new line bypassing Angouleme is planned to run between Marsac and Roullet and stations were proposed at either Asniere-sur-Nouere or Roullet.  But recently the concept of a parkway station has been put on the backburner and it is expected that trains calling at Angouleme will divert back onto the "ligne classique" and use the current station.

Hi, I travel to Rouillac - Charente using the tunnel (best for the dog) several times a year, and I can drive it in about 6.5 hours from unloading to arrival at my front door.  This includes 2 stops (Baie de Somme and Alencon) which take about 45 mins in total.  I would admit to doing 140 kph on the autoroutes and 120 kph on the N10 and I always go through Rouen (this is a doddle and I can't understand where the problem is - just follow the signs). Previously I used to use Brittany Ferries to either St. Malo or Caen.  St Malo is about 4.5 hours to Rouillac and Caen about 5 hours but this will reduce with the progressive opening of the A88.

This is what has appeared in the Charente Libre (English Edition).  Lets hope it's more accurate than their weather forecasts! "It may soon be possible to buy an air ticket from Angoulême to major world cities. Authorities at the Brie-Champniers airport near the Charente capital have, as expected, formally revealed that Ryanair will be operating flights from Stansted Airport from spring 2008. Less expected, however, was the news that GB Airways – who operate as a franchise of British Airways – will also be providing a service to and from Angoulême. GB Airways fly from Gatwick, which means that in theory passengers will one day be able to buy a ticket from the Charente to any one of up to 600 worldwide destinations, checking in their baggage just once at Angoulême. Despite the formal announcement by the authorities in the Charente, negotiations are still continuing on some of the details and planned services could change between now and the opening date next spring. As it stands, both Ryanair and GB Airways will be only be operating services for the busiest parts of the year. Ryanair will be providing three flights a week to and from Stansted, using a Boeing 737 with a capacity of 189 passengers. This will operate for 30 weeks of the year. GB Airways is set to use an Airbus A 320 – capable of carrying 162 passengers – for daily flights for 27 weeks a year.   The Chambre d'industrie et de commerce d'Angoulême (CCI) is still trying to persuade GB Airways to operate some flights a week all year round The department council’s president Michel Boutant welcomed the announcements. ‘It is very good news for the Charente,’ he said. However, he was also cautious, given that negotiations are still continuing. ‘I want to see the first plane fly,’ he added. The department president said he was very surprised at the level of interest shown by airlines in flying to the airport, an interest that grew when they realised it was to be re-branded Angoulême-Cognac airport. ‘The name Cognac gets a reaction,’ said Michel Boutant. There had also been expressions of interest from EasyJet and from a new French start-up airline called Odeseus. Daniel Braud, president of the CCI, said Ryaniar and GB Airways represented a good choice of airlines which would allow people to fly anywhere in the world from Angoulême and would benefit tourism as much as business. ‘It’s a crucial moment in the development of the department,’ he said. Daniel Braud knows there will be tough negotiations ahead, noticeably with local bodies and groups who will be asked to pay for some of the ‘marketing’ costs of the new airlines. However for the moment he prefers to focus on the positive. ‘Soon with just one ticket we'll be able to go from Angoulême to New York…’ he noted."    

Sounds like good Novartis propaganda.  Although I no longer work in Animal Health I've just had a look at Prac-tic and the active is pyriprole a chemical with the same mode of action as fipronil (Frontline).  Although it is possible that it is more active than fipronil at the doses used there should be no difference in tick control.  It seems unlikely that it would control any ticks resistant to Frontline any better than fipronil itself.  If a dog is allergic to Frontline I would think that it will also be allergic to Prac-tic (collies in particular have this problem).  The collars suggested above are just deltamethrin (an old insecticide) which isn't that good against ticks.  Advantix is a good product from Bayer containing imidocloprid but if you want long term protection against ticks then I would suggest you find a collar contining amitraz - and old product but with the unique property of making ticks detatch and fall off the dog.

Contrary to others on this site, I did have some problems over Christmas.  Going out on 22nd December all was fine except touch screens were very flaky and required several sharp raps to work (with encouragement from a Eurotunnel representative).  I returned on 31st December to find that only a third of the lanes were open and none of the touch screens were in operation, with all crossing letters being written by hand in the booth!  On asking for an earlier crossing I was told it was full - on driving through after our letter was called, I was loaded onto a quarter full earlier shuttle!  Work that out.

There are some previous posts about this, but the latest in the Charente Libre is that progress is being made in raising the money that Ryanair require to start the service.  The Chanbers of Commerce for Angouleme and Cognac have both made pledges of money and the Charente departement has also put aside money.  A Cognac councillor complained that he was paying twice to a private company to run an air service he won't use! The start of the service depends on improvements to Angouleme airport which still haven't started, optimistically they hope the service will start in June 2007 but realistically September or later seems more likely.

[quote user="Lizzie15"][quote user="Hotspur"]Bit slow to get back to you. There are plans to build anew airport for La Rochelle near to Rochefort. It has been mooted for some time but I'm not sure what the progress is.[/quote] That's interesting.Last year they used Rochefort when La Rochelle was closed.There seems plenty of parking there and it is easy to reach.Is it going ahead or just being mooted? [/quote] Nothing recently in the Charente Libre. I think the new airport was linked with the construction of the new A831 autoroute, which is currently stalled.