Smorgasbord Book Reviews – #Travel #France Year 1 – Fur Babies in France: From Wage Slaves to Living the Dream (Adventure Caravanning with Dogs) by Jacqueline Lambert

Delighted to share my review for the highly entertaining and fascinating guide to caravanning and travelling through France… with four very individual pups… Year 1 – Fur Babies in France: From Wage Slaves to Living the Dream (Adventure Caravanning with Dogs) by Jacqueline Lambert.

About the book

“Laugh out loud funny & a great travel guide.” *

Have you ever thought of giving up work and heading off into the sunset with surf boards on your roof? If you answer ‘Yes’ – or you just like dogs, caravans or travel, this book is for you.

Year 1 – Fur Babies in France follows the true story of a couple who accidentally bought a caravan – and then decided to rent out the house, sell most of their possessions and tour Europe full-time with their four dogs, Cavapoos Kai, Rosie, Ruby and Lani.

It was a steep learning curve, involving many breakages and a near-death experience. Discover whether, with the application of humour, they find peace and tranquillity on the back roads of France – with a bit of windsurfing thrown in!

My review for the book 9th July 2022

This book is a very entertaining and informative guide to caravanning with four dogs as companions through France.

Never having been on a caravan holiday, I was ignorant of all the technical requirements needed to not just tow this home on wheels, but manoeuvre it on and off pitches, keep it level, attach all the necessary services and avoid damaging critical pieces of the undercarriage.

The author shares her adventures for the preparation of both caravan and drivers before embarking on an ambitious debut extended tour of France. Daunting enough for the novice caravanner but with four dogs in the mix, quite a logistical challenge.

Whilst excellent information on the technical aspects are included, it is accompanied by an easy going and very humourous narration with some very witty double entendres thrown in for good measure.

For those who are planning a touring holiday of France in a caravan the book has a wealth of information on the best campsites for both scenery and facilities, especially when dogs are not always welcome. Certainly a pack is not usually considered to be acceptable despite the four in question being not only adorable but extremely well behaved. Whilst usually the case, apparently fox poop is the exception and then all bets are off. This can be a problem when you find yourself without a water connection and therefore no showers!

I know France reasonably well, but clearly you get to see a great deal more of the coast and inland areas than visits to the usual touristy hotspots. The book left me yearning for the open road and the freedom to stop in more out of the way places where campsites are the only option to stay for the night. A home on wheels definitely has its advantages, and again with four dogs who love to swim and run the beaches, the only sensible option if you take them with you, as hotels would be out of the question.

This is just the first book in the series and I am very much looking forward to reading the others. I finished this one with a smile on my face and a renewed desire for more travel adventures. I can highly recommend this honest, well written and amusing real life adventure.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US

Other books in the series by Jacqueline Lambert

Read the reviews and buy the books: author.to/JLambert – Follow Jacqueline: Goodreads – Blog: Worldwide Walkies – Facebook: Jacqueline Lambert Author – Twitter: @JLambertAuthor

About Jacqueline Lambert

Jacqueline Lambert has long had a passion for travel and adventure. Always a bit of a tomboy, it was an accidental white water rafting trip down the Zambezi that really opened her eyes to the experiences that the world has to offer. The trip was not, as she expected, ‘floating down the river looking at wildlife’.

Somewhere between the adrenaline of tackling Grade 5 rapids in crocodile-infested waters and the raw beauty of sleeping under the stars on the banks of the river, she determined that she was no longer content to live her life in thin slices. She also realised that experience was more important than owning STUFF.

Since then, she has travelled as much as time and budget would allow and has rafted major rivers on every continent except Antarctica. Before meeting her husband, Mark, she took a sabbatical from work. Although she was single at the time, she asked for – and was granted – ‘maternity leave’ to spend several months backpacking around Fiji, Australia and New Zealand!

A keen off piste skier and windsurfer, Jackie is a Team Rider for the UK’s National Watersports Festival, to which she has contributed many articles and blogs about windsurfing. She is also the wordsmith behind her own dog-centric caravan travel blog, World Wide Walkies, which has been featured in the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Newsletter and Dog Friendly Magazine.

She and Mark were made redundant in 2016. In their mid 50s, they decided to give up work, rent out their house and travel full-time with five dogs; their four Cavapoos; Kai, Rosie, Ruby and Lani and a stray that they adopted in Transylvania whom they named Blade, the vampire slayer.

 

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books.. thanks Sally.