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Original poster

Anyone else now going to France?

800 replies

Ridingthecrestofawave · 19/07/2020 20:36

Just wanting a quick poll on what people's thoughts are about going to France with current lockdown relaxations? - Euro tunnel, caravan 2 x hotel stop offs en route with 2 DC's .....All facilities on sites open apparently but gel, masks etc needed. Wondering will it be empty? Hard work and weird to follow rules? What would you do? x

OP posts:
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Parker231 · 10/08/2020 10:44

We’re due in France later this month for a wedding - crossing fingers and toes that the quarantine requirements aren’t introduced.

loveisagirlnameddaisy · 10/08/2020 10:51

@notimagain

Would lack of travel insurance worry you? This is what I keep coming back to.

Guess it depends what, over and above healthcare, does an individual want the cover for?

For example ATM the EHIC will cover a Brit for healthcare if they need it whilst in France.

ATM I suspect motor insurance should still be "good", Covid or not, though people obviously need to check policies;..

So that leaves perhaps wanting cover for loss or damage to valuables..?

Our breakdown insurance won't cover us if the FCO has already advised against travel. I presume it will be different if it's announced while we're there but none of my insurance providers can say specifically as they wait and see what govt advice actually is rather than what it might be - and then they just follow that.
Wincher · 10/08/2020 11:04

Following with interest - we are meant to be travelling on Saturday (driving, ferry, Airbnb). We won't go if quarantine is introduced between now and Saturday but of course the risk is it coming in while we are there. We are going with friends who have children due to start a new school on Thursday 3rd so they will need to come back on the Wednesday if it does come in in the first half of the week. It wouldn't be the end of the world if we had to quarantine and our kids had to miss the first couple of days of school as DH and I are working from home anyway, but obviously I'd rather not if we can help it! It's just all a bit stressful. The kids are so excited, I can't quite bear the idea of breaking the news to them that we can't go...

Luckily I think because we booked before March we could still get a refund for the Airbnb and we can get a credit note for our ferry booking. If, of course, it comes in before departure...

Fiftysixthnamechange · 10/08/2020 11:10

@Friendsoftheearth

Ah sorry fifty!! I thought you said company will have to suck it up Grin
That's OK, I don't think I worded it very well!
Aragog · 10/08/2020 11:18

Dd is due to go back for a second France holiday on Monday with her boyfriend and a couple of friends. They are awaiting news beforehand. One friend may already need to pull out as his part time job has told him he can't quarantine or he'll lose his job. Dd and boyfriend can technically quarantine if they need to as university won't start until end of September.

The trouble is as they are all young the hotel and flight prices, though not expensive, are a lot to the, at that age and most don't want to have to lose their money.

Our annual travel insurance covers Covid and Covid related treatment now, but is unlikely to cover if foreign office advises against it- though you don't have to return home immediately - unless that's what the foreign office decide (they didn't with Spain) when I read it for when we went away.

It's a tricky one. We've been to France this summer and all was great. We have a fab time and everything felt safe, . But this threat of quarantine has been rumbling in since we were there - it's over a month since we arrived in France so it's been going in for at least that long!

MsWoodentop · 10/08/2020 11:26

@notimagain

Would lack of travel insurance worry you? This is what I keep coming back to.

Guess it depends what, over and above healthcare, does an individual want the cover for?

For example ATM the EHIC will cover a Brit for healthcare if they need it whilst in France.

ATM I suspect motor insurance should still be "good", Covid or not, though people obviously need to check policies;..

So that leaves perhaps wanting cover for loss or damage to valuables..?

An EHIC won't cover everything in France. If you visit A & E or have to be an inpatient, you'll get free treatment at P.O.C but there may be a balance to pay subsequently as you're only covered to the same amount as the French which is circa 70 - 80% % of the cost of much of your care. You aren't covered for accommodation or food in hospital (€18 a day in a shared room in a state hospital).

GP visits and prescriptions will have to be paid for up front and then a percentage can be claimed back when you get home.

notimagain · 10/08/2020 12:05

An EHIC won't cover everything in France.

Ah yes my error..Blush

I'm aware of how the system works with a Carte Vitale - I've done Urgences a few times with family bumps and scrapes and also know about the impatient charges.

I'd stupidly forgotten the EHIC may not cover some/all the excesses you describe.

chocolatviennois · 10/08/2020 16:00

www.statista.com/statistics/1110187/coronavirus-incidence-europe-by-country/ According to this chart the number of cases per 100 000 is lower in France than the UK. Therefore why is the UK hinting at adding quarantine to France?

If quarantine from France is introduced I think it is still possible to get travel insurance..have heard of companies offering it but don't know the specific names.

Greenbeanie88 · 10/08/2020 17:52

@thenewlook - will they let you push back to next year? Our gite owners have said that if an quarantine was imposed this is what they would do. I'd have a chat with them and see if this is an option.

LittleRen · 10/08/2020 18:28

We have cancelled and have booked a lovely lodge in Devon, not too near the coast, more in the countryside area. Will probably stop at bath on way home and somewhere on way.

Just not worth the risk for us but we have three young children, two are due back at school.

Greenbeanie88 · 10/08/2020 18:32

So just reading up and apparently France has 2 days to get below 20 cases per 100,000 (this was in the independent) as they take a 14 day view of infection rates. I don't think this is possible given the way the figures are going.
So we should know by Weds/Thurs - we leave on Friday at 8am Hmm

TheNewLook · 10/08/2020 18:38

greenbeanie I emailed the owners this morning. Haven’t had a reply yet... 🤞🏼 If all they offer is moving to next summer we will have to take that. I don’t really like booking things so far in advance though, you never know what a year brings...

TheNewLook · 10/08/2020 18:39

LittleRen how did you find something in Devon at this stage? I’ve been searching for alternatives all day and come up with nothing!

zippyswife · 10/08/2020 18:59

@Greenbeanie88 we leave thurs morning. Cutting it so fine. Would you consider taking our insurance to cover you and going anyway? That’s our plan. There are companies that insure for holidays if you go against fco advice.
I know they have notice before they brought in quarantine for Belgium Andorra.
But before the quarantine date I checked fco advice and they had already removed them from the list. I don’t know how quickly that happens. 48 hours would be reasonable but I think the countries are removed earlier than the quarantine is enforced.

zippyswife · 10/08/2020 19:00

What are France figures for today? I assume they are low as a Monday?

Parker231 · 10/08/2020 19:02

From Sky News - The French health authority reported cases of coronavirus are up by 33% in the week up to August 6, and infection rates are increasing in all age groups, particularly 20 to 30-year-olds.

LaChatte · 10/08/2020 19:15

+1185 today.

chocolatviennois · 10/08/2020 19:23

Are these figures any worse than the UK?

carlyfrench · 10/08/2020 19:25

Urgh. We are due to travel first thing Friday. This uncertainty is foul. Lost our big holiday in March so thought we might be lucky with this one. Too late to reschedule and the thought of trying to claim on insurance is depressing, even though we should be covered, having had booking and insurance in place since the beginning of the year.

I just want to know now so I can manage the dcs expectations and get on with a plan b if we can't go.

carlyfrench · 10/08/2020 19:26

And we'd be ok with quarantine, it's the fco bit which will scupper us. Sad

Greenbeanie88 · 10/08/2020 19:29

@zippyswife - yes potentially. We have insurance in place as we booked last year and we are still covered by that for certain things if the advice changes whilst we're there.
We've made the decision to go anyway as we have planned building work starting and have to be out of our house Shock. We have our EHIC cards and if anything else happens understand we would need to pay for treatment etc. Eldest will miss a bit of school if quarantine comes in but we've decided we're okay with that.

If you know of any companies offering insurance let me know as I'll look into it.
Not seen figures yet - think they may be lower and then higher tomorrow when the weekend is taken into account.

It's the ECDE website which apparently the government is following - it has a map of Europe with cases colour-coded by reigon.

chocolatviennois · 10/08/2020 19:42

If a quarantine is put on france it doesn't just affect people with holidays to France as many people will be driving through France to get to other destinations eg. Italy which has much lower rates of covid at the moment. The government happily opened up air bridges at the time many of us were paying hefty balances for family summer holidays and I think it is a bit much for them to impose blanket quarantines so soon after. The government also seem oblivious to the strain the travel industry is under and the consequences there would be if travel to France was halted again.

clara10 · 10/08/2020 19:53

Gosh this thread is offering some comfort. We are due to travel this Saturday for 2 weeks to the Puy du Dome department. We booked direct with a French company on 1/12/19. We have the eurotunnel booked. 🤞 I really hope we all get to go.

LittleRen · 10/08/2020 19:57

@TheNewLook I have literally spent hours searching and refreshing websites, I ended up checking hoseasons multiple times and hour then this one popped up. Must be a cancellation, still think it’s too good to be true so wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a mix up - I have had the confirmation etc though! I found generally there was more availability next week than the week after when we had planned to go to France. There was still availability in quite a lot of caravans and lower priced places but I wanted somewhere with a bit more luxury!