- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Oh so beautiful - everything - the writing , the photos, Carbon.
The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire
- Thread starter Emily_Babbelhund
- Start date
- Location
- Canberra, Australia
Fantastic pics. Yes, you are a seriously handsome gentleman.
- Location
- Cornwall , UK
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
Lovely 
- Location
- The Hague, The Netherlands
Oh Carbon. 
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
@Selina said it perfectly, it looked utter bliss.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
ML travel update:
The morning has been spent making final decisions on our lodgings in France. I spoke to my father last night and he encouraged me to have a bit of a splurge for our week quarantine. He's getting very loose with MY money in his old age!
Actually I love it when he tells me to live a little and enjoy a sneaky treat because that is the completely opposite of how I was a raised and I continue to be miserly to this day.
All a long-winded way off saying that I upped my maximum price in my search and found a beautiful country house in Normandy near the D-Day beaches, an area I really enjoyed with Carbon two years ago. The decision came down to an economical but cute little grannie flat in the ground floor of a house near the western coast of Normandy (Granville), or this dream cottage in the area of Caen.
Will she, won't she, will she, won't she?
Oh, what the heck! Live a little! Take the dream cottage!
And...
I click reserve and get a message: "This property not available for your dates".
Wah, waaaaaaahhhh. Someone was quicker than I was. Whoops!
So quick as I could, I scooped up the little grannie flat. It was just as I told my father last night: it usually turns out that even when I decide to 'splurge' I still end up - for whatever reason - within my budget range.
On the bright side, I think the grannie flat is very cheery and while it has no living room or garden, it is in a lovely neighbourhood an easy walk to the beach. I know that no beaches in France are officially dog friendly this time of year, but tide-willing we can still sneak in a bit of very early morning surfing.
And hey, I just "saved" EUR250 that I can splurge somewhere else.
The morning has been spent making final decisions on our lodgings in France. I spoke to my father last night and he encouraged me to have a bit of a splurge for our week quarantine. He's getting very loose with MY money in his old age!
Actually I love it when he tells me to live a little and enjoy a sneaky treat because that is the completely opposite of how I was a raised and I continue to be miserly to this day. All a long-winded way off saying that I upped my maximum price in my search and found a beautiful country house in Normandy near the D-Day beaches, an area I really enjoyed with Carbon two years ago. The decision came down to an economical but cute little grannie flat in the ground floor of a house near the western coast of Normandy (Granville), or this dream cottage in the area of Caen.
Will she, won't she, will she, won't she?
Oh, what the heck! Live a little! Take the dream cottage!
And...
I click reserve and get a message: "This property not available for your dates".
Wah, waaaaaaahhhh. Someone was quicker than I was. Whoops!
So quick as I could, I scooped up the little grannie flat. It was just as I told my father last night: it usually turns out that even when I decide to 'splurge' I still end up - for whatever reason - within my budget range.
On the bright side, I think the grannie flat is very cheery and while it has no living room or garden, it is in a lovely neighbourhood an easy walk to the beach. I know that no beaches in France are officially dog friendly this time of year, but tide-willing we can still sneak in a bit of very early morning surfing.
And hey, I just "saved" EUR250 that I can splurge somewhere else.
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Fab!
But...no living room? How small is this place?
But...no living room? How small is this place?
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
It's not that small, just that they've chosen to put a bed in the main room and present it as a bedroom instead of a sleeper sofa which would make it more like a little studio with a separate kitchen. I think it will be a little dark and not a huge amount of privacy as the front door opens into the "bedroom", but for a week it will be just fine. The hosts sound lovely and apparently give great tips for seeing the area, so that would be a plus.Fab!
But...no living room? How small is this place?
Rental unit in Donville-les-Bains · ★4.89 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1.5 bathrooms
Beach 100 m away. View of Chausey
www.airbnb.co.uk
- Location
- Cornwall , UK
It looks very cosy and in a grand location too x
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
If you have any recommendations for places to visit in that area, Kate, let's have a talk about it next time we see each other.
For sure I'd like to take Carbón to Mt St Michel. Last time we were in Normandy I went on a wild hare at the end of the day and walked about half way out just to enjoy the view and take some photos. It would be interesting to make it all the way there this time.
I love Granville absolutely love that area.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
A leeetle throwback of my past modelling achievements at Mont St Michel in France. Porque quiero, just because I want to.
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
It looks pretty Emily. But no comfy sofa?It's not that small, just that they've chosen to put a bed in the main room and present it as a bedroom instead of a sleeper sofa which would make it more like a little studio with a separate kitchen. I think it will be a little dark and not a huge amount of privacy as the front door opens into the "bedroom", but for a week it will be just fine. The hosts sound lovely and apparently give great tips for seeing the area, so that would be a plus.
Rental unit in Donville-les-Bains · ★4.89 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1.5 bathrooms
Beach 100 m away. View of Chausey
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Sadly, no comfy sofa. My last days of comfy sofa will be here in Cornwall, then unless my plans change no comfy sofa for me until next January in Cornwall again. This pains me as I place a very high value on comfy sofas.
It definitely has a nautical theme too!
The first time I went to France to visit my penfriend in Normandy (a long time ago!) their house was very primitive. There was only a dining room and kitchen on the ground floor of the cottage, so the family sat round the table to chat after their meal in the evening. No comfortable chairs at all. The only tap (a cold one) was over the kitchen sink - and if you pulled back the curtain under the sink you could see that it drained in to a bucket which was emptied onto the street outside the door. There was no bathroom, just a loo in a lean-to, and I was highly embarrassed at not being able to master the art of flushing it with another bucket!
I visited the village a few years ago when a friend and I took our mothers for a short break in Honfleur, but the row of cottages had disappeared, although the wall of the big estate, where my penfriend’s father was a groom, is still there.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
That's interesting, @Granca . It's a shame so many of the older houses have disappeared, but what an experience you had! I wonder if there are any open air museums you can visit in Normandy so that you can see what people lived like "before". I've been to those types of museums in Ireland and really liked them.
My great aunt in the Ozarks (a rural area in Missouri, USA) had a pump in the kitchen and the "ice box" was a spring down at the end of the garden. I don't remember the toilet situation, but I do remember having to brush the tadpoles off the milk before you could bring it in!
My great aunt in the Ozarks (a rural area in Missouri, USA) had a pump in the kitchen and the "ice box" was a spring down at the end of the garden. I don't remember the toilet situation, but I do remember having to brush the tadpoles off the milk before you could bring it in!
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Hola todos!
Estoy un poco triste, I am a little sad, because today was the last day of our holiday in Cornwall. Claro que sí, of course we are not leaving Cornwall yet. No, it is only that tomorrow ML goes back to staring at her computer for hours and hours a day. However it is my fervent hope that she has learned this week that sitting all day on the comfy sofa and staring at the computer is not only bad for DOGS, but bad for humans too. It makes them short-tempered and forget how to find things to do that are fun for both humans AND dogs. ML is not cured yet, but at least she has remembered that she forgot, and she knows that there are plenty of cosas muy buenas, very good things, that she and I can do together that we both enjoy.
And who knows? Maybe someday she will learn to appreciate the finer points of chasing balls and poo tasting? I never give up hope for my ML, even if she is a bit thick-headed most of the time!
Today ML spent the morning finding us a new temporary house in France and then we went on a nice long walk on Stepper’s Point, here in Padstow. It is a good place to go when the toursits come because it is hard to find. Ves, you see? I did not call them “emmets” this time. ML says that is rude and as I am a Spanish gentleman I am, claro que sí, of course, NOT rude. So no ‘emmets’. But from a distance, they do look like ants just a leeeeetle bit, no?
But here we are far away from the crowds: just a Spanish gentleman surveying his Cornish domain.
La vida esta buena: life is good.
Then we sat down on my special blanket to watch for seals.
Instead of seals, ML became obsessed with watching apparently suicidal cows. Watch out for the edge, silly cows!
Luckily I was able to distract ML from the dare-devil cows with my sparkling smile.
And that is all for now: it is back to work for us tomorrow!
However...
ML promises me that we will go surfing tomorrow morning and she will not forget the lessons she learned this week. Que bien!
Estoy un poco triste, I am a little sad, because today was the last day of our holiday in Cornwall. Claro que sí, of course we are not leaving Cornwall yet. No, it is only that tomorrow ML goes back to staring at her computer for hours and hours a day. However it is my fervent hope that she has learned this week that sitting all day on the comfy sofa and staring at the computer is not only bad for DOGS, but bad for humans too. It makes them short-tempered and forget how to find things to do that are fun for both humans AND dogs. ML is not cured yet, but at least she has remembered that she forgot, and she knows that there are plenty of cosas muy buenas, very good things, that she and I can do together that we both enjoy.
And who knows? Maybe someday she will learn to appreciate the finer points of chasing balls and poo tasting? I never give up hope for my ML, even if she is a bit thick-headed most of the time!
Today ML spent the morning finding us a new temporary house in France and then we went on a nice long walk on Stepper’s Point, here in Padstow. It is a good place to go when the toursits come because it is hard to find. Ves, you see? I did not call them “emmets” this time. ML says that is rude and as I am a Spanish gentleman I am, claro que sí, of course, NOT rude. So no ‘emmets’. But from a distance, they do look like ants just a leeeeetle bit, no?
But here we are far away from the crowds: just a Spanish gentleman surveying his Cornish domain.
La vida esta buena: life is good.
Then we sat down on my special blanket to watch for seals.
Instead of seals, ML became obsessed with watching apparently suicidal cows. Watch out for the edge, silly cows!
Luckily I was able to distract ML from the dare-devil cows with my sparkling smile.
And that is all for now: it is back to work for us tomorrow!
However...
ML promises me that we will go surfing tomorrow morning and she will not forget the lessons she learned this week. Que bien!
- Location
- Canberra, Australia
Those cows 