Fox Tales

Not much time to pause and enjoy the Barkerlona sights although I did enjoy the colourful pavements which Mum said were inspired by Joan Miró - she sounds like a talented lady. Mum and Dad were shocked to find airport style security check-ins at Barkerlona Pants station, with luggage x-rays and body scans. Dad couldn’t see any mention of the ‘mascota’ fee on the ticket so I had to hide under the train seat for a lot of the journey! Luckily nobody spotted me - it made the journey more exciting, like being in a spy film! Unfortunately, however, despite my expert disguise as a furry kneecap, I was spotted at Madrid station as I leapt off the train and Mum and Dad were scolded by two stern female train staff who said that I should have been put ‘in the luggage’ The ignominy! Mum played the dumb English tourist very convincingly, shrugged and left quickly.… It seemed to be a day of upsetting the Spanish authorities as during the security check for our train to Córdoba, Dad was pulled over,...

After an aptly named PETIT dejeuner, Mum and Dad stashed our big suitcases with the horrible noisy wheels at the ‘Consigne à Bagages’ at Lion Station (still haven’t seen him) The station is grand and beautiful with a lovely old long mural showing all the places you can go to on the train, should anyone else be as silly as us to want to spend days on trains. We then had a good 5+ mile walk to Notre Ham. It was delightful not to have the suitcase wheels thundering next to my ears. The Cathedral is still being repaired after it got badly burnt. This was my favourite bit - We also saw some handsome holy men and I made ‘un ami’. French chiens are odd; they say ouah, ouah. What’s wrong with woof, woof? As Mum and Dad like to be super early for everything, we returned to the station leaving plenty of time for our train to Barkerlona. However, when we arrived, there were lots of police with guns and big scary train guards stopping us from entering. All the trains were stuck in the station beca...

Up too early again but the Eurostar had big comfy seats so plenty of room for Mum & Dad to squeeze in next to me. Had heard that there’s a lot of cheese (which I adore) in The Nether Regions so I’d hoped to see some fields of cheese as we sped through the Dutch countryside but it was very misty and flat so no cheese mountains to be seen. I decided that the view from the floor of the train was more interesting. On arrival in Paris, I was kneaded affectionately by a woman who said she’d just lost her Foxie, Charlie. Glad to be of service. I suppose she was out looking for him. After queuing confusion about the Metro, it turned out to be only two stops from Gare du Gnaw to Gard de Lion, where we were staying. I hope I don’t meet the lion-am not keen on cats, especially those that are much bigger than me. Mum and Dad had some wine in Café Populaire and started to get a bit excitable. Even though it was cold, we had an interesting walk along the Seine and Mum and Dad ate some tapas...

Day 2 Harwich to Hoek van Holland/Amsterdam Up in the dark to catch the Furry to Hoek van Holland. Mum and Dad were very nervous that my paperwork, (a ten page Pet Health Certificate, not recommended holiday reading) might not get me out of the country but all seemed OK and my chip passed the beep test and we were off. It all cost quite a lot of money but I think I’m worth it. Mum had taken some pills in case of waves but the sea was as smooth as (slightly bumpy) glass so it just meant she was very quiet (unusual) and slept a lot (not unusual) in our cabin so I thought I’d do the decent thing and keep her company. In fact, my movements (bowel or otherwise) were limited as I was only allowed to be in our windowless room or up on what Mum called the Poop Deck (an apt description, as it turned out) The Furry was very deserted. Mum said she had to try to stop thinking about the Titanic. Due to some poor Geography on Mum & Dad’s part, we had two long train journeys to a place called Ham...

European Adventure Day 1 - North Devon to Harwich, Essex Day one of our big adventure! I’m sure everyone who knows us thinks that it’s ill-advised to travel from Devon to Southern Spain by train. But with me in tow? Utter lunacy! And so the madness begins. Here I am, waiting for the bus to Barnstaple train station. Will probably need to get a job at Woofacombe Bay Hotel when I get back to pay for all the delicious fish I’ll be eating on holiday… From the train, spotted lots of sheep, cows and a huge, squashed flat white horse which looked as if it was stuck on a hillside, unable to move. Feeling similar on these trains… One bus and five trains later…..(including a train under the earth - whoever dug that must have had sore paws afterwards!) …we arrived in Harwich in the dark. A wonderfully crumbling, spooky place where The Mayflower set sail to America from. Had a great sniffy walk and much needed comfort break around the deserted docks. Harwich also has a cinema called the Electric Pa...