Saturday 24 September 2016

Poor Old Stanley Dog

Poor old Stanley dog!

Our lovely black Labrador Stanley is showing his age. Back in March he hit the grand old age of 11 and in the months since he's really started to struggle.
Stanley Dog

He's now on a variety of different tablets to help his ageing body cope. Although his hair has become grey and he's starting to look like an old man, our beloved Stanley is still going strong at heart.

As soon as he gets up onto the moors he runs around like the puppy he once was. Back and forth, into the bushes searching for whatever he thinks may be there. Is it a ball, a stick or some form of animal. I dont really know and to be honest as long as he's happy in his old age I don't really care.

The one thing we have noticed as he gets older is his bowel movements. Unfortunately he started to have a few accidents around the house!

Now although this is rather unpleasant, the vet has been very good and given us some great advice and help. Good old Stan is still full of energy and not struggling too much so the vet's been happy to prescribe some tablets to help settle his stomach.

Luckily for us, the main smelly problem has stopped, apart from the odd tiny accident which we are happy to cope with.

Last week, the Mrs and Kids went to Whitsand Bay in Cornwall, which is one of our favourite places to visit. Now this used to be a one of Stanley's favourite places to visit also but in recent times we have decided not to take him due to the steep steps leading up from the beach. Well, last week we decided that he was looking a bit more agile and so off he went!

What a surprise, bounding, splashing, running around like a baffoon! Mrs said she hadn't seen him so active in ages.

Good old Stanley Dog, I know that your time is limited but I hope you will carry on for a while longer yet!!!


Tuesday 6 September 2016

Our Eurocamp Holiday Part One!

Our Eurocamp Holiday Part One!

Our Eurocamp holiday to France this year has been and gone and boy did we have a fantastic time. We love going camping in France and this year was no different with an overnight stay just outside Paris followed by a week at Saint Avit Loisirs in the Dordogne.

Both of these stays were booked with Eurocamp with the third part of our holiday being booked with Al Fresco Holidays.

As i've got so much to write about our holidays i'll split it into three parts with our Eurocamp Holiday part one covering our journey and the overnight stay at Camping International near Paris.

Our first task was the long drive from Devon to Dover for the ferry. We chose to travel from Dover to Calais due to the savings in price we could make over travelling from Plymouth to Roscoff. Although it's a fairly long drive, we saved over £600 even when you take into account the increased diesel costs.

A trip across the channel from Dover to Calais cost us around £75 whereas an overnight crossing from Plymouth to Roscoff would have cost in excess of £750. Due to the time it takes to get to Dover, we decided to stay overnight just outside of Paris with Eurocamp and even with this added into the cost we still saved over £400 on the overall cost of our holiday!

Camping International Paris

Camping International Paris
We arrived at Camping International as some point around 7pm. Although it was a long drive from Devon, our trip from Calais to the campsite was quite quick. The roads were clear and we loved using our new Sanef Tolling Tag which we'd picked up before our holiday started.

On arrival, we checked in at the main reception area and were directed through to the Eurocamp office which was just inside the campsite. Here we met our Eurocamp Rep who told us all about the campsite and took us to our accommodation.

We booked a 2 bedroom classic mobile home which had a double bedroom and a second bedroom which had two single beds with a further high single bed. Although the accommodation was clean and tidy it was a little bit dated compared to other campsites we've stayed on previously.

The campsite in our opinion if excellent for an overnight stay or for those looking to explore Paris although there are few activities of facilities on site other than the basics.

Once we'd checked in we went immediately to the restaurant to eat. The choice of food was good, the quality was excellent and the portion sizes were amazing. It is one of the best campsite restaurants we've eaten in for some time!
Camping International River

The campsite is located along the banks of the river and the views from the restaurant are lovely on such a beautiful summers evening.

After we'd finished our meal we decided to have a quick look around the campsite. There's a small playground area which is perfect for younger children.

Camping International Playground
Part of the Playground at Camping International
Small slide at Camping International
The small slide was great fun for the little ones!
 You'll also find on site, the restaurant, as we've already mentioned, a take away, the bar,  a multi sports pitch, table tennis and a small shop for all your essentials.

The campsite is well laid out with a variety of different sized camping pitches along with a variety of mobile homes and these great tree houses which we though were quite cool looking.

Camping International Tree houses


Now as we've said, we thought the accommodation was a little dated, but we still had a great evening and fantastic nights sleep before we headed off down to the Dordogne for our first week of our holiday.

Don't forget to keep an eye out for our Eurocamp Holiday part Two!