Excess Baggage : Max and Min Go To France!

We have been in France for about 2 months now. And I think finally, after this much time, I have recovered enough from the experience of moving two dogs overseas that I can write about it. It was that bad. So that's what this post is about, everything we went through, all four of us, to get our pups from the states to our new home in France.

All packed up and ready to go!

Lets start with the prework, all the paperwork required to get pets into the European Union. I spent days, literally, researching the requirements for this. There is not a single website anywhere in the whole of the Internet, I am convinced, that plainly states what you need to do and how. It's unbelievable really. I could tell we needed microchips, followed by rabies vaccines (in that order), and some sort of health certificate (in actuality, you need two, which I found out 7 days before we left), but it was very unclear which certificate to use and who needed to fill it out. I should also mention that all these forms are in French, which doesn't help the situation. I also knew that once the certificate was signed, it would only be valid for entry into the E.U. for 10 days (including weekends and holidays), and that at some point, it needed to be signed and stamped by a special vet in Austin. So as our moving day approached, I realized I could not ignore this mound of confusion any longer and I ended up calling the vet in Austin to get clearer instructions. I should have started with this, it would have saved me hours online. The regulations for this change frequently, and they are guaranteed to know the latest info. This is when I found out there were actually two forms I needed to have filled out, and that they needed to be done by a USDA approved vet. I already knew that our vet was qualified, so I called to beg for a last minute appointment. Turns out, even though she CAN fill out the paperwork, she doesn't like to (too much responsibility), so she said no. At this point we have 7 days to get the papers completed and back in our hands, and now we have to find a new vet to take care of the papers for us. This is in addition to the million other things we were struggling to take care of before we left! We ended up at PetSmart, where we had to pay $200 to get these silly papers taken care of. Then first thing the next day, we overnighted them to Austin and prayed they would make it back in time.

We left for France on Tuesday, and received the papers on Monday. Barely made it! Now comes the actual flight. We knew Max was too big to fly in the cabin with us for the actual plane ride, and that left us no choice but to fly them in the baggage compartment. Fortunately, AirFrance will allow two small dogs to ride together in the same crate as long as they do not exceed a certain weight limit. So I had a tiny bit of comfort at least knowing they would be together the entire time. We checked ourselves in at the airline ticket counter good and early, dogs require a minimum of two hours prior to departure, and made sure everything was all set to go. We chose to fly out on September 11th, and everyone thought we were crazy. I did too a little. But I'm so so so glad we chose that day. The airport was empty! Really, I have never seen it like that before. But for us it was great, we could take our time checking in, ask lots of questions, and not feel rushed at all. And I was less concerned that my dogs would be forgotten about or overlooked in the hectic mess that usually plagues airports. It was a huge comfort to me. But then came the hard part: saying goodbye. Everyone that helped us was extremely nice and reassuring, they do this all the time! But I still cried, for a good 15 minutes I think. We brought them to the "oversized luggage" area, the same place you would bring large musical instruments or sports equipment and other odd things you can't stuff in you suitcase. TSA checked them out, then placed the crate on a conveyor belt and we just stood there while they disappeared into the unknown. In reality, they went just right beyond the curtain into a holding area until it was time to board the plane. But I could not see the space or see them, I did not like it at all.

Fast forward about 12 hours, and it's touchdown in Paris! The only thing on my mind is finding my dogs. They are both old, and not all dogs can handle the stresses of such a long flight, although most can, without any problems. But I was still very nervous. We finally make our way to the baggage area, after what seemed like a hundred delays, and I can't believe what I find. Had I not already been so exhausted and stressed out, I would have been furious. Since we had a few delays in getting from the plane to the baggage, the luggage beat us there was already set out waiting to be picked up. And that includes the crate with Max and Min!! There they are, sitting in their crate in the middle of the airport, confused and scared, and very much all alone. There is not a single airport employee around. Anyone could have snatched up the crate and walked off with them. That's what we did. Anyone could have also opened the door to the crate, and they would have been off, free reign of Charles de Gaulle! I couldn't believe it. And all that paperwork we stressed over for days and paid hundreds of dollars for? Didn't need one bit of it. I carried around 3 copies of every paper I could find on them, all for nothing. We literally picked up the crate and walked off, just like a regular suitcase. Except there were live animals in it. The dogs were fine, they managed the flight ok as far as I could tell, but we were all tired and uncomfortable. However, if tired and uncomfortable were the biggest complaints we had, then I think it was a big success!

At this point, seasoned expats would probably have hopped in a cab to the nearest hotel and gotten some sleep. Instead, we decided to take a four hour train ride from Paris to Montpellier. While I was very happy to have my dogs back in my arms, they do have a way of making everything more difficult. And since I had two dogs to handle, this means Kerry got stuck with all of the luggage. We searched for a spot for them to potty, which was pointless because they had both wetted the crate. I felt bad about that, but I felt much worse about the fact that I still could not feed them. But since we still had hours to go and we would all be stuck on a train for a while with no possibility of relief, I could not give them anything. Looking back, I see this as a huge oversight in our planning, and another very good reason to have stayed in Paris for the night. I felt horrible. They took it like champs though, and after 45 minutes of squirming to get comfortable, they slept most of the train ride. By law, dogs must be muzzled during train rides, at least in France, but this was not enforced one bit. Ours never needed their muzzles, and we saw plenty other dogs without muzzles as well. We have been told that "some laws are meant to be broken," I suppose this is one of them. As a side note, it's also a law that you must clean up after your dog if he uses the sidewalk as a toilet, and I have never seen anyone (except for us) bother to do this.

Prior to our journey aboard, I had read many articles on flying pets overseas, and almost all of them concluded with "if you don't have to do it, don't!", and I can definitely see why. It is an experience I certainly hope never to repeat. In the end though, I am very thankful to have them here. They keep me company during the day and make sure I am never lonely. Max had his 13th birthday last month (I realized I've had him over half of my life now) and as he gets older I am more grateful for each day I have with my happy, healthy boy, even if he does sleep 20 hours a day. These two little stinkers are a mess, I don't know what I'd do without them!