AnAmericanDogInParis

The Adventures of a 12 pound Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) going to Paris.

Name:

Tom & Maxine like to travel. Blogging helps us create a record of the trips, and share with friends and family...

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Initial Entry

The Beginning. Last in 2005 MaxineP and I decided to take an extended trip to Paris. Why:
* Other than English, French is the only language we have any skill with (even if just a little)
* We'd been to France on numerous occasions and liked it
* We wanted to spend time in an urban setting. Paris, unlike LA where we live, is a city for walking.
* The food.
* We believe that the French will accomodate our plans to bring our dog.

As to "the dog", her name is Cassie. She's 7 and has grown up with little exposure to other people or dogs. She's timid, but unfortunately expresses that by barking when people get close. Aside from wanting to take her, we were pretty convinced that we wouldn't be able to find anyone to watch her if she'd stayed behing!

In 31 days our dog will finally (we'd like to think) 'get' what we've been saying when talking to her about Paris. Right... We do understand that she doesn't -- understand, that is. But, in one month we're all going to wake up early, bundle together last minute packing and head to LAX for a long flight to France.

So, we're thinking that in 32 days, after we've arrived, at least she will 'get' that she is someplace different. And in the following days we wonder if she'll in turn wonder what happened to Los Angeles, the backyard, the warm weather, the privacy, and all of that.

In turn, we wonder how we'll react. Sight seeing is always fun. But, 2 months is in some ways equivalent to moving someplace. And, we're looking to both enjoy and learn from this trip!

Our adventure begins.

4 Comments:

Blogger Cat M said...

I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE.CATM

5:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Uncil Tom and Aunt Maxine one day can you come back to are house.love CatM

8:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have you gone and been to France? How did Cassie do? How did you handle the chip situation. I understand that they have a new chip out, Crystal Tag Chip, that combines the two chips '84 & '85 and is the required chip now for travel to France. How did you get the bilingual health certificate forms and what did it cost to get the stamp from the USDA? Any information you can share will be helpful as we are going to France in March and are taking two dogs and one cat. Could Cassie travel onboard under your seat or did she have to go into the "hold" or "cargo?"

Thanks!

Lyn McIntosh-Sherwood

12:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lyn,

Are you writing, having read my post today in the
Yahoo Groups Live-in-France group?

We got the chip from Avid
and they told me that they did not sell the France
chip and that we needed a scanner. My conversations
with them led me to think that they experience this
all the time. I don't know if there is a chip that
combines the 2 specs.

The blog entry has links to the USDA and other useful
sites including the French/English forms. I don't
recall what the USDA certificate cost, maybe $20? We
live in LA so we drove to their office to get it done.
Otherwise you might need to use FedX given the short
timeframes required.

Cassie weights 12.8 pounds and went on board with us,
rather than in the hold. Just as a warning, we were
travelling (mileage upgrades) first class from LA to
Chicago and her bag really did not fit under the seat
in front of us, only 1/2 way. From Chicago to Paris
we were in business and had the same, but it was a
less obvious airplane rule violation given the space
between the seats. We were on United.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

10:18 PM  

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