Thread: Lili's fate is sealed... :-)

Crisis averted and I have to say I'm well chuffed with my choice of husband. [/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Puzzles

Crisis averted and I have to say I'm well chuffed with my choice of husband.

[/QUOTE]

Aw that is so nice Alekto, well done hubby !! lol

wellll another set back... apparently, have I discovered just yesterday, airlines DON'T accept animals in the cabin. Has to be "sent" cargo. For a measly 1500£. It only took me 10 phone calls to different stake-holders in this story to get to that conclusion.

so that's out.

next plan - train. Apparently, in the train, I can keep her with me, and also she won't have to go through the whole pressure thing - now, today I have to call St Pancras to make sure it's all ship-shape, then if all good I have to book a trip that goes from Rennes (Brittany, West end of France) to the Montparnasse Railway Station in Paris - then take the tube with my treasure and go to the Gare Du Nord Railway station on the other side of Paris - take the Eurostar (for the Americans amongst us it's a train that goes under the sea to reach England) to London St-Pancras station - then take the tube in London to go to Kings Cross - take another train for Newcastle - sheeeeeesh.
I have to buy the ticket now because later it will be muuuuch more expensive (right now,250£ for the pleasure) - I still told my Mum it might be wiser to get Lili adopted if she can BUT only by people of my choice. - this means ... if I buy my train ticket I might not use it - if I don't buy it I may need it.
Good news is that husband won't need to come get me all the way to Edinburg at 9:30 in the evening which I was feeling very guilty about although I do appreciate the thought.

AND still not sure how Neevie is going to react. Getting pawned by a monster after an 12 hours trip might be a bit rough on my little flee...

Do you think the Universe/England are trying to tell me something?

Have you looked at Air France Alekto ... I'm pretty sure that they will allow one small animal in the cabin with you?? The train journey sounds a very complicated nightmare!!

Yeah that sounds like a right pig of a journey!! I can't see it being cheap either!! My offer still stands btw and it will be a damn site cheaper for you too lol!! As for when Lili gets home you might just for that night let her settle down in a room on her own before having Neevie bounce over and thwack her round the head lol, just an idea

soooooo again some more updates - it looks there is NO transportation medium that allows you to just register as a simple foot passenger.
AirFrance - who told me at Paris Airport "Yeeeaaah no problem we'll book you with your cat in the cabin that's fiiiine" - actually can't do that. It has to be Freight, there is no airline authorised to transport any animal in the cabin. I checked that with DEFRA, which is the governance agency dealing with ... that. Of course noone at Airfrance was able to sing the same song, so it took me absolutely ages to find that out.
Sea travel: SOME companies are approved by DEFRA to take your animal by sea however from France there is only one approved journey that will take you without a car, that's from Le Havre to Portsmouth. Le Havre being about 4 hours by car from where the cat is, or I have to go via Paris if I go by train. Then from Portsmouth to Newcastle it's another 2 changes 7 hours journey.
Otherwise, HO will have to come and get me by car, do the crossing, then cross back, because you can't have your animal just wandering on the ferry it has to stay in a car.
Alternatively - the channel tunnel - I thought I could take her with me in the train but noooooo - you can only keep your animal with you if you cross... wait for it... by car! you put the car on the train and you get through the tunnel in that way.
That would be the cheapest and least bothersome option for me, but of course it means HO would have to drive aaaaalllll the way from Newcastle to Dover, cross, then cross back, then drive aaaaaalll the way back to Newcastle. Not ideal. We could stay over in Calais and make a trip of it, but frankly there's only so much you can do in Calais, and then you have to pay hotels and such....

Originally Posted by AFK_Matrix

Yeah that sounds like a right pig of a journey!! I can't see it being cheap either!! My offer still stands btw and it will be a damn site cheaper for you too lol!! As for when Lili gets home you might just for that night let her settle down in a room on her own before having Neevie bounce over and thwack her round the head lol, just an idea

That is really sweet AFK, and thank you soooo much for offering - however as I understand it you can only take her in October? that's becoming a problem because my mum's cat is still refusing to enter the house as long as the ennoying invader is there. She's bearly feeding herself.... 3 weeks I think is the max we can wait.... And also, I am worried that if she gets here when she's older, Neevie might have (even) more problems accepting her.
And of course that could be only if you travel by car and cross the channel either with the shuttle or by Ferry? If you're travelling by plane or as a foot passenger on a ferry then.... the question is moot...

So.... looks like Lili is staying in France after all? ....
to be continued....

Yeah I can understand why you want to do it ASAP mate I just wanted you to know the offer is still there if you need it. It would be October 6th when I could get lili to you. And I am driving from Gatwick to Orleans, France so go round Paris. I will be taking the car either by ferry or tunnel so that's no problem.