Runner up in Your Say, the Telegraph Travel’s weekly competition.

Our puppy Brody was recovering from a leg injury and kennels weren’t an option, so with the beautiful weather of France just through the Eurotunnel, we headed to Carcassonne.

On the tree-lined avenues of Orleans, we dined al fresco. There, Brody sniffing a fellow terrier turned into an extraordinary rendezvous; the dog, on holiday from Belgium, turned out to be his Herefordshire cousin!

In dog-friendly Carcassonne, Brody enjoyed morning walks to the boulangerie and lazy days by the pool, and found the incredible Cavayere lake an excellent spot for hydrotherapy. The phrase ‘it’s a dog’s life’ took on a whole new meaning.