Hints & tips for your big move to France...
- If cats have to be present during the move, ask your vet about light sedation to make the day less stressful for them. Lock cats in the night before or they’ll disappear the minute the removal men arrive. Travel them in specialist cat carriers. Keep dogs tied up or carefully shut into pet crates to prevent accidents while the removals van is being loaded.
- At the other end, keep cats locked in for at least 24 hours. Do not let them out until they have eaten properly in your new house and given themselves a proper licking. Do not let your dog off the lead for the first day or so. (Just in case the neighbours own a hound called Baskerville.)
- For dogs arriving in the south of France between May and September fit them with a collar against leish maniose as soon as possible after you arrive. (Ask at the chemist.)
- During the journey, make sure that you keep an overnight bag in your car along with essentials such as Teddy, dog food, torch, biccies, aspirin, secret stash of euros, thermos of coffee, travel-sickness pills, pillows and sleeping bags - because you never know.
- Story tapes are great for making a long car journey pass quickly. Our favourite is Black Beauty.
- When booking the ferry try for a long night crossing so that you get some sleep before attacking the long drive.
- Make two or three long leads - 5 metres of flexible cable with a female UK plug socket one end (or even a UK plug board) and a French three-pin plug the other - so that you can plug things in (ie the kettle) the second you arrive. This is better than the travel adapters you buy, which burn out very quickly.
- Don’t attempting Calais to Toulouse in one day. Drive slowly, rest often, sleep over as many nights as you need to - an accident won’t save time.
- Don’t drive in fog, snow or heavy rain. Pull off the road, relax and only resume your journey when the weather has improved. There are cheap hotels all over France. Even on motorways. Look for ‘Formule 1’ which is perhaps the cheapest. Their site http://www.hotelformule1.com has location maps.
- Avoid driving on or around 14 July or 15 Aug. The roads are packed and dangerous on both days.
- Welcome all glitches. Just take lots of photos, so you can dine out on your Moving Stories later on!
Hints & Tips taken from the articles (Moving Day) by Samantha David.
Disclaimer
This dossier article is intended as a general guide only. For specific information relative to your own situation, please use the contact details in the fact file. The information given here was correct at the time of publication.
Updates
This article was last updated 15 November 2007
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