Exposition Nationale D'Levage des Dogues de Bordeaux
A small report from the French Clubmatch, Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th of September. Dogs entered: 243

We started our trip to France on Wednesday morning at 0800. We stopped in Gothenburg to meet up with our puppybuyers Jenny and Niklas, and got to see Eric at the same time. He already has a huge head, and I just had to measure him - 64 cm at 7 months of age! We went outside and let Eric meet his mother, and they played for a little while. Then we continued towards France, and stopped every now and then to walk the doggies and stretch our legs. The first part went fine, but at night, or should I say early morning, we could feel the strain. It was so nice to finally reach the hotel after 27 hours in the car. The room wasn't ready until 1400, so we took the girls and went for a walk. We found a small lake where they could have a drink and cool down a bit, and then we went back to the hotel. The temperature was much higher than at home. We now have about 5-10 degrees, and we've even had frost in the night. In the area we lived in France, the temperature was between 25-30 degrees, so we had a last feeling of summer.:-) I got sunburned on my neck and chest, because I left the sunscreenlotion at home...... ....... ;-).

When we arrived at the hotel we had a great lunch. The food was superb, and we felt right at home in the nice surroundings. Later in the evening, Elisabeth & David, Totte & Veronica and Jenny & Niklas came to our hotel and joined us for dinner. We called it an early night as we were all tired from the long trip.
On Friday we decided to drive to a seafood restaurant we found in a brochure. We had a lovely lunch, and we got so filled up that dinner wasn't on our minds until very late.
After the lunch, we decided to stop by the show venue and put up our tents and chairs and we found a great spot under some trees. I am glad we did it so early, because more people had the same idea and the best spots were of course taken very early. The venue was so beautiful, and we met lots of nice people. Some of the people in charge of the show was there to put up the cages for the doggies, and they asked if we could help them. Of course we did, and after an hour or so, we went back to the hotel to meet up with our Finnish puppybuyers and their friends. It was so great to see them, and we had a nice dinner together. We got a few hours sleep, and then on Saturday we were at the showvenue a little before 0900 and we stayed all day.
In the evening it was the official dinner. We had a fun time, and it got very late, so we were a bit tired on Sunday morning. Of course I had been nervous for days already, and I couldn't wait to get in the ring. I showed Hazel, and Espen showed Effi. It was a very pleasant judge, and he asked where I was from and if I would like for him to speak english to me. :-) Of course I was very happy for that. The critique was still in French, and I didn't get much, other than I heard the word Excellent mentioned time after time.:-)) He also said to me that all was excellent, and I couldn't be happier. It was the same with Effi, and both of our girls ended up with the yellow card to the Ring d'Honeur! We were so proud of them, and they both did a great job in the ring and showed themselves very good. All I had to do was to keep up with Hazel when she was running. After that we waited all day for the finals, where also our friends from Sweden Elisabeth and David was going to show their champion Alero and Natasha from intermediate class. Hazel, Effi and Natasha was not placed among the top 4, but Alero got 4th in his class. Very well done and BIG congratulations to the proud owners and breeders.
After the show it was time to pack down our stuff, and get it all in the car. Back at the hotel it was time for dinner, and it was so nice because we were all celebrating together. Of course we had to have Champagne. :-)
We were all tired after a long day, and it was nice to go to bed. Monday morning we had breakfast with our Finnish friends, and at 0900 it was time to say goodbye and drive home. It was sad to leave them, but luckily we will meet again a bit later this year.
Espen and I were home the next day at 1130, and it was so wonderful to see our other doggies again. Camilla had taken great care of them as always, and we are so thankful that she comes to us every year.
To finish off, I want to say a big thank you to SADB for a well executed show again this year, and thank you to all our friends for making the trip so extra special. We already look forward to next year!

Some pictures can be found here.