La France

[Marjolein]

Well, we have good hopes that the buns are in the oven
We had a pretty good trip (except for some nutritional intolerance with both me and Johan and some car trouble the last day, the power steering oil kept running out...no fun driving hairpins without power steering in a volvo...grrrrr...). Met some very friendly people in France, and took a lot of pictures!

Here is most of them:
http://streepjes.jalbum.net/Frankrijk%2 ... index.html

For the Texas-download-slowies amongst us here is a selection of pics:


Ivil meets Napoleons soldiers


French traffic police (at least she kept to the right side of the road...and passed by our car without tipping it over )


Lovely weather in the South We froze our butts off!!
Our "gite" (=rental house) was way up in the mountains, coldest wind ever! First day it was raining like mad, went out with Ivil for a quick walk, I ran back inside after she wee'd, was not out more than 3 mins. and even my undies were soaked!! Great...
Next day, looked outside, no more rain, yay! I step outside, instantly my nose froze, the wind was SO powerfull and COLD! Even for a Dutch girl this was kinda cold...(Ivil did not care, talking about me here... )
Ofcourse now we were convinced it could not get worse: next day we had snow, and I love snow, but a blizzard? AAH! Luckily we went to the male a couple of times, he lived down in the valley, it was between 5 and 8 degrees celcius warmer down there, pfffff!


Ivil's date
Best dog ever! I had seen him "live" last about a year ago, and when I saw him again, all the bad stuff about the trip just washed away, this was SO worth it! Very social, friendly dog, wants to cuddle and play all day, but when he is at work, he is dead serious, yet even then, very honest. His owners kid can wear the bitesuit for this dog, a total stranger can pet him 5 sec. after the excercise. Very stable, social, good looking dog Ivil was very lucky we are insane enough to drive her overhere, haha.

[LyonsFamily]

Ivil's a very lucky girl. That male looks like a stud.

Glad to hear your trip was worth it, even with all the snow and car problems.

Hopefully in 63 days it'll be even more worth it when those little brindle buns come popping out.

[leih merigian]

sounds like a mostly great trip ...at least, for Ivil, and that's who counts, no?

French food didn't agree with you? What's up with that?

Glad you're back safe and sound!! Thanks for the pics here, btw...

[cake73]

Ivil's date
Best dog ever! I had seen him "live" last about a year ago, and when I saw him again, all the bad stuff about the trip just washed away, this was SO worth it! Very social, friendly dog, wants to cuddle and play all day, but when he is at work, he is dead serious, yet even then, very honest. His owners kid can wear the bitesuit for this dog, a total stranger can pet him 5 sec. after the excercise. Very stable, social, good looking dog Ivil was very lucky we are insane enough to drive her overhere, haha.

I'm not even looking to get a puppy and I think I am in love!



WTG, Ivil!

[Dutchringgirl]

He is magnificent !!!!!! The scenery is fantastic ! Cant wait to die over more pup pics

[Marjolein]

French food didn't agree with you? What's up with that?

nope, not French food in general, I love that and never had problems. We still have no clue what it was, water? Food? salad? Anyway, we were both empty...top to bottom Both feeling happy and good now, so nothing big, jsut 2 days of being sick, tired, and not even holding in a glass of water

Thanks all! Ivil is showing good signs..steeling food Or does she always do that?

[felixone123]

beautiful creature that male is and love the scenery!!

[Schlussdibusti]

Wow, sounds like a hell of a guy. Congrats

[vneerland]

Very cool! (And you can take that literally too)
Where in France was this? Just 'south' is a bit of a stretch? Love the traffic cop, but I am glad you did not get stopped or harrassed by her. I bet she would have been mean.

As for Ivils fiancee Brassai...glad that you did not come all that way to see things that you, in hindsights, did not care for. You know you would have gone ahead anyway, so really liking him again is a huge plus.
Nobody ever believes me but his grandfather Nico is not a dog that you can approach without me there, yet he is fine when properly introduced, and yes, approachable right after bite work. He too is very sane, with an on and off switch. He does not eat small children unless they are swinging ball bats at him. He will do anything for me, as long as I negotiate the question, since toe to toe with him is not a good idea. He is fierce and can back it up if he has to. But treat him with respect and he will absolutely do the same.
Yes, I love that dog. And I hope that your future litter will give you some of those qualities in your own brood.

[Marjolein]

Thanks all

Judith, we were in the "Ardeche" between Lyon and Nimes. Pretty far South-east-ish. And pretty *ugh* cold

I believe in combination with Ivil, we will not have that fierceness you are talking about Not even if granddad himself had had a romantic day in France with her But, as you know, that is not what I am looking for, I am looking for the in-between I guess Brassaï is pretty much what I would like, but hey, his owner would not give him to me So we hope for some nice pups from him and Ivil