Would you cancel weekend in France?

[SSOYS]

I'm taking DD to Lille for the Christmas market later this month. The trip has been planned for months and was intended to be a treat after her school trip to Lille was covided off.

Would you cancel, given Omicron? I am double jabbed and she has had a single but had covid recently. We don't mind taking tests and wearing masks. I keep thinking it's a bad idea to travel but can't actually work out why.

I’d go! Travel while you can, not sure how long travel will stay open for. We have a ski trip planned in france in early January and still hoping to make it!

No I wouldn't I live near the French border in Spain. Everything is as normal here (don't believe what you read in the British press ).
You will have to comply with entry arrangements. Here in Spain you have to be fully vaccinated to enter , I'm bit sure what the entry requirements are for France for non EU citizens si you would need to check that.
You don't actually have to quarrantine on return. I went to the UK this week, you can get a rapid PCR test in arrival. My results arrived before I got to my mum's. No isolation

Oh also ....you will need the covid passport to enter restaurants etc. So unless she's vaccinated she won't be able to go in ?

Depends really if you think it is worth the bother just for a weekend, I would if it was a week or two but it sounds a lot of faff for a couple of days

Wait until next week before cancelling. The conseil défense sanitaire are meeting on Monday and the press are sayng new restrictions will probably be announced following that, so we should know more then.

samthebordercollie thanks for mentioning the Monday meeting. My son is due to go skiing in France next Friday and he was saying he would find out Monday if they are going - but I couldn't see any reference to this online.
He is 22 so leaving it to him but the logistics already seem complicated. He is also not a fan of masks & don't think he quite believes the French will be much stricter.

I'm just back from Paris so was affected by the UK rules changing while I was there, which was no biggie - I ordered a PCR test online which I then had at a testing centre near St Pancras - the result came through in under 12 hours. If the French rules are likely to change at the start of next week as @samthebordercollie says, I'd probably wait and see. I found the UK Gov website surprisingly helpful about travel to France, and what that would mean if travelling with different types of people (eg children, unvaccinated) but it won't update immediately that the rules change.

I need to book antigen tests to return to France in a week but am holding off in case it changes to pcr.
It's a nightmare.

samthebordercollie thanks for mentioning the Monday meeting. My son is due to go skiing in France next Friday and he was saying he would find out Monday if they are going - but I couldn't see any reference to this online.

Link here: www.leparisien.fr/societe/sante/covid-19-un-conseil-de-defense-sanitaire-se-tiendra-lundi-prochain-annonce-jean-castex-02-12-2021-EDJ5FMWCLRD6ZK5RSIIHGSRSQQ.php

Any changes as a result of Monday’s meeting will (?obviously) be in addition to measures already announced, such as the requirement that starts in the AM to test prior to arriving in France from anywhere outside the EU….so it all looks getting more and more restrictive…

notimagain thank you. We shall watch for news on Monday.

@Madmog

I wouldn't cancel due to Omicron itself, but I'd be put off by the cost of tests and possibly things changing at last minute which means you could suddenly find yourself rushing to get back due to quarantine restrictions coming in here.

Same. I wouldn't want to take the risk of being abroad at the mo, because of logistics rather than covid.

How old is she? Because if over 12 and she only has a single vax, france counts her an unvaxed and she needs a test no more than 24h before travel to France plus she'd have 7 days isolating.

In fact, if your DD is over 12 and only one vax then I'm not she can even get in unless you are EU nationals or have a 'motif imperieux'.
I am fairly well versed on the French entry requirements as DH and kids are French nationals but less familiar with guidelines for unvaxed as they don't count for us.

@Tinysnickers

In fact, if your DD is over 12 and only one vax then I'm not she can even get in unless you are EU nationals or have a 'motif imperieux'. I am fairly well versed on the French entry requirements as DH and kids are French nationals but less familiar with guidelines for unvaxed as they don't count for us.

I’m not sure that’s right, but given the state of my French I’m happy to be corrected…. The French consulate in London’s website used to have a really useful flow chart in English and French that covered this but it looks like that’s gone…

Best I could find after wading through:

www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Attestation-de-deplacement-et-de-voyage

Was this:

“Si vous n’êtes pas vacciné, vous devez présenter à la compagnie de transport et aux autorités de contrôle à la frontière le résultat d’un examen biologique de dépistage virologique (PCR) ou antigénique réalisé moins de 48 heures avant le départ ne concluant pas à une contamination par la covid-19 pour entrer sur le territoire métropolitain.
Si vous êtes en provenance du Royaume-Uni et n’êtes pas vacciné, vous devez présenter un test PCR ou antigénique de moins de 24h. 
Le départ du premier vol est pris en compte en cas de voyage avec correspondance. Les enfants de moins de douze ans sont dispensés de test.”

And if could edit the above I would then fess up that I’ve only just noticed this footnote..

“ un engagement sur l’honneur à s’isoler durant sept jours et un engagement sur l’honneur visant à se soumettre à un examen biologique de dépistage virologique (PCR) à l’issue de la période d’isolement.

I’d cancel. The risk of being abroad and restrictions changing makes me anxious. I wouldn’t want to get stuck abroad or have to do a costly quarantine on return.

Useful article here in the fabulous Local

@notimagain on the link you've posted it does say that unvaccinated travellers need a "motif impérieux":

Si vous n’êtes pas vacciné, vous devez produire un motif impérieux pour rentrer sur le territoire métropolitain. La liste indicative des motifs impérieux figure sur l’attestation d’entrée sur le territoire métropolitain téléchargeable ci-dessous.

Theoretically, you can use a certificate of recovery from Covid-19, but I can't find anything about converting a UK certificate of recovery to use in France. And a test to get the passe sanitaire is now only valid for 24 hours.

Ah sorry, now I see it also says:

Les mesures appliquées aux adultes vaccinés s'étendent dans les mêmes conditions aux mineurs les accompagnant, qu'ils soient vaccinés ou non.

So for entry, you should be OK, but she would need the test every 24h for the passe sanitaire.

What's the latest you can cancel?

Lille has one of the highest rates in France - around the same rate as the UK average - but there is little chatter that I hear of cancelling Xmas, although passe sanitaires etc are required in Xmas markets and in town centres.

I wonder if the Monday announcement will be related to tests required for all EU arrivals as well as third countries like the EU. Last year they also did a lot of free PCR testing in the run up to Christmas so people could check before they headed home so hopefully it will be a domestic announcement like that.

I would be prepared to have a PCR test done for both of you within a 24 hour period and book appointments for your daughter's daily tests now on doctolib.fr (I don't think you will be charged before you arrive so can be cancelled). And of course manage expectations about last minute cancellation. Are you on the train? A lot easier to manage than flying.

Unvaxed kids are exempt from quarantine as long as they are travelling with fully vaxxed parents uk.ambafrance.org/COVID-19-rules-for-travel-between-France-and-the-UK-28918#t1-Travelling-from-the-UK-to-France
^Children:
Children, whether or not they are vaccinated, are not subject to compelling reasons and quarantine if they are accompanied by a vaccinated adult.
Unvaccinated children aged 12 and over must have taken a PCR or antigen test in the past 24 hours.^

It certainly used to be the case that unvaccinated children over 12 travelling with a vaccinated adult didn’t need a motif imperieux and didn’t need to self-isolate (although other unvaccinated people do). I shall see what happens on Monday but it’s not looking good.

Thank you everyone

@650above

Thanks for finding the reference regarding no quarantine etc .all academic to us but vaguely rang a bell…

As it stands today a much bigger problem for us personally is the jeopardy involved in going the other way for a visit……risk of being pinged on arrival in UK and then the subsequent risk of being pinged pre-return and being stranded away from home…,Hey ho, it’ll be Merry Christmas for us somewhere…

It's so frustrating everyway @notimagain! I supposedly have visitors arriving in France from an EU country for Xmas so trying to keep up with all the possible permutations. Ireland have just introduced testing for all arrivals - it kind of makes sense to do but it is a hassle and I won't be surprised if France to the same.

We're just hoping for the best but prepared for it all to go haywire...

It's causing havoc for lots of people in my Belgian FB groups wanting to travel to UK over Xmas. Negative tests and isolation in each direction. Transiting France by Eurostar OK, but in a car by Eurotunnel more complicated. A lot have just given up.