Voyages around France: Rudy versus the sea......

Rudy's long awaited and long delayed trip to the sea is now in the history books. Whether or not this first trip to the sea was enjoyable for him is up for debate. We did find an area close to Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer that allowed dogs so off we went to the beach. As we neared the ocean I could sense that Rudy was getting excited seeing all those waves and all that water. When I finally unhooked his leash he made an immediate dash to the water and followed Alicia who was already about 20 yards into the sea. Even at 20 yards the water was only 2 feet deep in places and it was entertaining to see Rudy jumping over every wave that was coming in to get to where Alicia was standing.

I expected him to initially take a drink of that salty sea water and realize it was not for drinking. The more time we spent in the sea the more we could see that he was still drinking the water. Eventually the boy started feeling badly and we knew we had to get him away from the sea. We had brought some fresh water for him so it was back to the car for him to drink it - and he drank ALOT. At the very least if one drinks alot of sea water it can lead to cramps and cause the kidneys to work overtime in an attempt to flush the system of all that excess salt. I can attest that Rudy's kidneys were working extreme overtime for the next few hours.

After our beach adventure we took Rudy for a short walk into the Camargue which is an area consisting of wetlands, marshes, and lakes. This river delta consists of 360 square miles making it the largest of its kind in western Europe. The area also has a distinctive Spanish feel to it which you can see in some of the architecture as well as in the music you hear being played in the town.