For flights, the nearest airports are Lourdes/Tarbes, Pau, Toulouse. By far the largest of these is Toulouse, which receives flights not only from Europe but from North America also.
Lourdes/Tarbes is 55 minutes' drive from us; Pau and Toulouse are both 90 minutes' drive from us.
If you're flying from Britain, easyJet fly Gatwick-Toulouse (2-3 flights daily) and Bristol-Toulouse; Ryanair flies from Stansted to Lourdes/Tarbes (55 minutes from the house) and to Toulouse; and BA sometimes has bargain flights Heathrow-Toulouse (several flights daily).
If you're first flying in to the UK from North America or another long-haul starting-point, the frequent daily BA flights Heathrow-Toulouse can be especially convenient.
There are also cheap flights from all over Europe both to Toulouse and to Paris Orly, which in turn offers frequent flights to Lourdes-Tarbes, the closest airport to our house.
Trains are pricier than flights but very efficient. It is possible, for example, to leave York in the North of England at 8.30am and arrive in Tarbes, just 32km from our house, at 8.32pm the same day. Fast trains (TGV) operate from Paris to Toulouse and from Paris to Tarbes. (A tip: the best website for French train info is the German railways website at www.bahn.de. Or see the British based RailEurope or www.seat61.com.)
NB. Tiresomely, you can't take dogs on Eurostar, though you can take them on the British and French trains it is supposed to link. But you can take your dog through the tunnel by car on the reasonably priced Eurotunnel trains.
DRIVING/FERRIES: It's possible to travel by car via tunnel or ferry. Perhaps the pleasantest ferry routes are those that take you & your car to Spain: Villa Leon is only 45 miles from the French side of the Pyrenees.
OUR ADDRESS: Villa Leon, 32170 Sainte Dode, Gers, France
OUR LOCATION: We are 25 minutes from Auch, capital city of the Gers; we are close to the little market towns of Mielan, Mirande and Trie-sur-Baise, to the delightful hamlet of Tillac and 25 minutes from Marciac, home of a huge international jazz festival every August but a sleepy town with a large square the rest of the year.