For those of you who travel with pets, it’s always a bit of a headache having to find a Vet for the required tapeworm tablet administration and Passport certification on your homeward journey. I’m not trying to teach my granny to suck eggs here but this post may assist anyone who is new to Motorhome travel outside the UK.

You must see a Vet between 1 and 5 days before you travel. If you plan to do this a full 5 days prior to your passage, you may well encounter difficulties should your train or ferry be delayed. When you book your return date, remember to consider weekends and bank holidays as Vets will be closed. I booked our return for a Monday which I regretted. Mid week would have worked better for us.

We have always used a nice lady in Honfleur previously as we like to stop off there on our way back. She no longer practices unfortunately and the new Vets, which is temptingly convenient as it’s right outside the Aire, charge €58 total. They will not allow you to use your own medication even though I had Milbemax still boxed and date stamped by my UK Vet.

So just a couple of suggestions which might help. La Mailleraye sur Seine near Rouen, as was kindly recommended by our friends back home. It has a smashing little Aire by the side of the Seine with either grass or tarmac pitches. Cost €5.50. Don’t arrive on a Friday before 1pm as entry is blocked by the market. The Aire is in the book. Bear in mind the underpass in the middle of Rouen which gives all Motorhomers a nervous twitch if your route is likely to take you through the City!! If you haven’t experienced that little gem yet, it’s too low to fit a Moho under although most Sat Nav systems will do their best to lure you through it! Be vigilant! Anyway, I digress. The Vet was lovely and charged €15 with my own tablet. Bit of difference there then! You do need to telephone to make an appointment. You can either use Google translate and brave it in French if you don’t Parlez or try English, at least one of the Receptionists speaks a little. See details:-

Another spot, en route to Calais, just inland from Dieppe, is Neufchâtel en Bray. Again the Aire is in the book and on CamperContact. it’s called Sainte Claire. It is great, it has hook up, showers, wifi and laundry facilities so ideal for the way home. Cost €12. It’s only suitable for up to 8 meter rigs though. We chanced it at 8.4m and nearly came a cropper but that’s another story! There is a campsite just past it owned by the same company for bigger vans. The Vet is very convenient. We checked out the surgery for next time. The address is 2 Boulevard Industriel, Neufchâtel en Bray. Telephone 0232970147. English speaking. Cost €28. You can email them at vetbray@gmail.com. They are open 8am until 7pm Monday to Friday without closing and Saturday 8am until 5pm. There is also a big Leclerc Supermarket, an Aldi and a Lidl at Neufchâtel so great for stocking up on booze before you exit France and not as chaotic as Calais.

And so we are on our last stop before the choo choo tomorrow. Wissant. It’s in the book, a nice little Aire, free but no services, around 12 miles from Calais. It’s a pleasant seaside town with a few eateries, a good deli, a small supermarket and a bakery so ticks all the boxes for convenience before the tunnel or ferry. Don’t plan on coming here during French school hols or bank holidays though. I can guarantee it will be full!!

Hope this is of some help to somebody out there.

Stay safe on your travels you lovely Motorhomers.

Au revoir until next time ❤️🍷🇫🇷