Apologies for the delay in posting but much drama chez Nuala. The paperwork on my microchip, which is critical to this trip, was “lost,” and I was overwhelmed by the search for it. One would hope better care might have been taken of something so important, but evidently not. Fortunately it has been located, and I will let the negligence go for now because I need to explain the new European pet regulations to you. The best news is that the quarantine that Ireland and the UK previously required n’existe plus, but there is special documentation required for pets travelling from the US. Within Europe we may travel with an official PET PASSPORT, but when first coming from the US, we need to enter with a different document – a document for travel from a “listed country.” That form, “official third party certificate” is called ANNEX II. It needs to have been filled out by a vet no more than ten days prior to our arrival in Europe. Once we have arrived and have been approved, we will be issued the PET PASSPORT, which is good for four months (or until our rabies vaccination expires, whichever is sooner.)There are several online companies that will sell you this form, but you can contact the country you want to visit directly and the consulate will send give you link with all the necessary information and downloads for the forms. We contacted the very helpful Special Projects Unit at Animal Health and Welfare in the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and were sent these links for information and documentation:

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/requirementforentryorreentryofdogscats
andferretsfromanothereumemberstateandcertainothereuropean
countriesandterritories/
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/requirementsforentryorre-entryofdogscatsandferretsintoirelandfromacountryoutsideoftheeuorcertainnon-eueuropeancountries/

You should read this all carefully but basically this is what is required:
1) a microchip;
2) a rabies vaccination AFTER the microchip;
3) ANNEX II form;
and for Ireland and the UK only:
4) tapeworm treatment.
The tapeworm requirement is tricky. Both Ireland and the UK require the treatment within 120 hours of entry. I am going to have it done at a vet in New York the morning I fly (it can be added to my ANNEX II by a vet other than the one who will fill out the main form) but I could also have it done by a vet in France , should I want to stay in Paris longer. Once I am approved in the UK, there is no need for another treatment to enter Ireland. (The tapeworm is on the continent but not in Ireland or the UK. The very thought of it is disgusting.)
I hope all this is clear. The arrangements are not necessarily onerous, but the process is a little intimidating because if all is not done correctly…well, we don’t even want to consider that scenario. (Would they leave me at the airport to go eat in Paris? As the kids say, I really don’t want to go there.)
One final note: photo optional on PET PASSPORT but of course I will have one.

Well, to make a very long story relatively short, after much ado, I am booked on Air France flights to and from Paris. Delta initially approved me to fly in the cabin from Dublin but then called and said it would not be possible. B spoke to many people and finally got in touch with a mucky muck who was very apologetic but confirmed that an error had been made in the original booking. She assigned a nice man to take care of re-booking so as to return home from Paris, and Delta assumed all extra costs in the pricier ticket and fees for changing. That was good of them but the policy is a shame. I am glad we are traveling Air France – hope they play Gigi!
Enough about all that. Just as complicated have been the arrangements to get me from France to Ireland which is our true destination. Irish Ferries (www.irishferries.com) run a ferry from Cherbourg to Rosslare with a boat delightfully called the Oscar Wilde. (There is another route from Rosscoff to Rosslare through October.) Oscar allows pets but only in a kennel apart from everyone else with no view of “…that little tent of blue Which prisoners call the sky” and, given that the trip is sixteen hours long, Bunny looked for an alternative. She found one through an enterprising taxi service that takes people and pets on the car train through the channel tunnel. (Pets are not allowed on the Eurostar train and there is quite an uproar about that. If you would like to learn more, check out www.freespace.vrgin.net/passports.forpets/Eurostar.html , an organization in London that has started letter writing campaign to change the Eurostar policy. The chairwoman is Lady Mary Fretwell and she is doing well by her name for us. The wife of the former British ambassador to France, Lady Mary was the mover and shaker of the Pet Passport which allows me to take this trip without quarantine.)
So after what I am sure will be a lovely time in Paris (we already have one dinner reservation), we will make our way by train to Calais (about an hour and a half) where our new friend David from Folkestone taxi (www.folkestonetaxi.com) will have a driver waiting to whisk us off for the ferry ride and take us to our rental car in Dover.
My seafaring will continue. After a bit of time in England and Wales, we’ll take another ferry, this time on our own, from Holyhead to Dublin for another rental car. (It costs less to rent two cars than to take one from England to Ireland what with fees to do so and ferry costs for cars.)There are several ferry lines that operate on this route but only Irish Ferries allow pets with foot passengers. (You cannot book pets on the website. That can only be done at the terminal. It doesn’t appear to be a big deal but I will report back. I certainly hope I do not have to swim.)
Figuring this out, not to mention explaining it to all of you, has been exhausting and I haven’t even gotten to the medical procedures necessary for the trip. I’ll get to those after a little rest. Jake has taken over my bed but he is a very sound sleeper and I think I can sneak back in.

Nancy Reagan said that when she left the White House the one thing she would really miss was Air Force One. I understand where she was coming from. Commercial air travel is not for the faint of heart.
To make a very long story short, think what you might about the French (don’t forget I have German roots), they are really good about pets and air travel. We can come and go to French airports at our pleasure. Ireland is another story. Although there is no longer quarantine from the United States, we cannot land in Ireland from the cabin. However, since the destination country makes the cabin decision, pets should be able to leave Ireland in the cabin because US regulations allow it and, indeed, according to Irish regulations that only prohibit the incoming cabin travel, once I am in Ireland I am free to fly home in the cabin of a plane. Here’s where the airlines are the meanies. All the airlines that fly from Ireland to the US say NO to pets in the cabin because they are not allowed to land there from the cabin.
So, we are reworking my reservation to return to the States from Paris. That’s annoying but it gives George another dinner in France. Details to follow.