It's such a pleasure to dine in France, writes Countess du Ruel. The French take their beloved dogs to bars, brasseries and even the finest restaurants.

We just returned from a week in France, and at every meal there was a canine diner. French dogs are well-behaved and sit under or even on the chairs. It’s comforting to have these loyal beasts present. It adds a sense of family spirit and old fashioned charm to dining. In England Health and Safety have eliminated so many simple pleasures. I haven’t seen a dog in an English food establishment in years. I’m sure it’s meant to be unsanitary to let them enter the premises.

At one seafood restaurant near Le Touquet, it was a delight to watch a golden retriever under his master’s table share his assisette de fruits de mer. His pooch began with buttered brown bread and had a taste of each type prawn, petit gris, bulot, oyster and langostine. We applauded him for being so well-behaved and for making our own experience more enjoyable. Later at a side-walk café there were several dogs present. They didn’t growl at us or fight with each other. They enjoyed the ambiance and the occasional biscuit from an espresso saucer.