Sonntag, 22. Juli 2012

Paris

Paris is known for its little dogs and Fritz fit right in.  Well, sort of....A French friend of mine told me that it is a source of pride for people if their dogs walk off leash. And I was well-impressed by what I saw.  Little dogs so diligently following their owners and never running out into traffic.  In Sweden we tie up our dog outside supermarkets.  Here I saw a dog patiently waiting with no leash.

With little dogs comes little poos and Paris is trying to clean up its reputation with dog poo bag stations.




We stayed in Neuilly-sur-Seine just outside Paris and adjacent to the 16th Arrondissement.  It's conveniently right by the Bois de Boulogne which is great for dog walking.

The weather was great so we mainly ate outside, but I never had any problem bringing him in to eat. At one restaurant, as soon as I walked in the owner pulled out his iPhone and showed me photos of his Bichons.  





Surprisingly, Fritz wasn't allowed into the shopping malls at La Défense.  But when we walked around central Paris we didn't have a problem going into shops.

Fritz likes jazz

In Paris, I went out with some friends to Caveau de la Huchette in the neighbourhood of Saint-Germain des Prés.  We got there quite late which is probably part of the reason why they let us in but the bouncer really didn't say anything when we walked in.  And I could tell the band was amused.





Fritz got strip searched at the airport


Practical points - preparing for a trip

Dog?  Check.



Pet Passport?  Check.




Mittwoch, 4. Juli 2012

Norra Djurgården

What about Stockholm? This blog is about travelling with a dog and, strictly speaking, we don't travel in Stockholm since we live there.  But it's worth blogging about places to see and do in Stockholm.

Norra Djurgården is a park on the northeastern edge of central Stockholm.  Yes, really - there are barns, cows and sheep in Stockholm proper.  It's a nice place to walk a dog and the fields and forests also have a few cafes scattered about.




Around Brussels

Fritz and I had a day to kill in Brussels so we wandered around.  Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate.  Can I point out this was late June?


We stayed near Parc Léopold and Place Jourdan, in the EU Quarter.  The EU Quarter is generally soulless, full of office buildings and generally empty on weekends.  But Place Jourdan is a nice oasis of 'real' Brussels in this part of the city.  Place Jourdan also has a nice market on Sundays.  






Chez Antoine on Place Jourdan purportedly has the best frites in Brussels.  And also on the square is Chez Bernard, a bar in cooperation with Chez Antoine.  You can get your frites and then head over to Chez Bernard for a beer (they also have a nice selection of non-alcoholic beers).  Fritz and I went in and there were 3 other dogs at the table next to us.  Again, Brussels is great that you really can take dogs inside!





Brussels in June, again

On the way back from the UK, we travelled via Brussels again.  One point of information, the rail connections between Calais and Brussels on Saturday nights is lacking, so make sure to double check train times before you book your ferry to make sure you arrive in Calais early enough to get a train.

We stayed at the Sofitel Brussels Europe, which is in a great location and very dog friendly.  On the room service menu, they have a section "For our faithful friends," with a selection of dry food and delicacies (I asked and they suggested the croquettes).  This was handy because I had packed enough food for Fritz for 18 days and we were in Brussels on Day 19 of our trip.  He had the 150g plate of minced meat, carrots and rice.  





Housekeeping will also bring a water bowl and rug on request.

There are a lot of horrible hotels in Brussels; the Sofitel is great.  It's a luxury hotel at reasonable prices and we'll definitely stay there again.