Anyone else now going to France?

[Ridingthecrestofawave]

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

Yes it’s all frustrating. I see France has increased to 29 but UK has increased to 17 so both have increased by a similar amount? I feel more relaxed since we made the decision we’d go regardless. I’m still checking though!
@loveisagirlnameddaisy yes battleface is only really good for medical. We are going to go and accept that if our trip is curtailed it wouldn’t be covered. It’s not ideal but then none of this is ideal. In fact most things these days aren’t.

@zippyswife

Yes it’s all frustrating. I see France has increased to 29 but UK has increased to 17 so both have increased by a similar amount? I feel more relaxed since we made the decision we’d go regardless. I’m still checking though! *@loveisagirlnameddaisy* yes battleface is only really good for medical. We are going to go and accept that if our trip is curtailed it wouldn’t be covered. It’s not ideal but then none of this is ideal. In fact most things these days aren’t.

What would you do if travel is cancelled? Are you going by ferry to France? Im desperately trying to think through all possible scenarios and come up with solutions.

Just to say zippy that the threshold for the UK infections per 1000 is only 20, so France have been over for some time. UK was 14 has now gone up to 17, but still under the 20 which is the benchmark used by most scientists. Nearly 30 is very worrying, and it is going up quickly.

No insurance company will cover repatriation at the moment, although some are covering actual covid illness. If your area goes into lockdown or you are unable to get home, you are on your own. It might be worth considering if you have dependents or could not manage to stay out there for a much longer period whatever you circumstance.

I have friends in France trying to get home (dh is French national) and ferries are full, tunnel bookings are full. They are now trying other ports in different countries, and they will have to drive there. Some people have jobs and can't take a month off.

We’re going via Eurotunnel Thursday morning. Sounds ridiculous but I hadn’t even thought of travel being cancelled. I’m assuming we’ll get out there no problem and I’m assuming (maybe naively) that evening if quarantine has been brought in or local lockdowns that we’ll get back ok. If things are looking that worrying we’ll just leave early to get back through the tunnel I suppose. I sound laid back about it. I’m not. I’ve just got a bit bored of speculating and worrying myself over the maybes.
I think the benefit a holiday and a bit of France would do for us as individuals and as a family would be massive and outweigh the risks as I see them at the minute. I’m normally extremely risk averse.

@loveisagirlnameddaisy Brittany Ferries have kept their Spanish ferries going during the time Spain has been on the quarantine list, only cancelling one crossing a week after several weeks of quarantine being in place. I would therefore expect them to keep some services to France going. Even when we had complete lockdown in March P&O, DFDS and the tunnel were operating passenger services.

@chocolatviennois did the Eurotunnel run throughout?

zippy I really don't think you are risk adverse if you travelling in a pandemic to be honest.
I am not remotely risk adverse, and I am very fit and healthy and we have cancelled! Switched to October initially, but now moved to August of next year, as if anything October is likely to be worse.

@zippyswife Yes it did, it was running during lockdown. I know quite a few French nationals who went to France to visit their families during lockdown.

@Friendsoftheearth

I have friends in France trying to get home (dh is French national) and ferries are full, tunnel bookings are full. They are now trying other ports in different countries, and they will have to drive there. Some people have jobs and can't take a month off.

Some people who have jobs don't need to take a month off as they have been working from home since March and can continue to do so. Other people are in jobs that are exempt from quarantine. I feel sorry for people who are not in those categories and might end up missing out on a summer holiday this year.

[quote zippyswife]@chocolatviennois did the Eurotunnel run throughout?[/quote]
That is my understanding but I did not take it myself so maybe someone else can confirm.

I'm going Saturday to my house in France for 2 weeks, I can't wait. I'm flying to Geneva then driving.

Yes Eurotunnel/ Eurostar did run throughout lockdown albeit with amended/ reduced timetable- some of my co- workers used it (they were concerned about it shutting down but it didn't).

@Friendsoftheearth People's view of risk is different. For some people it will feel safest to postpone a holiday till next year. For others the fear of losing money spent on a holiday is greater than the fear of travelling with the current number of covid cases. I can see that if people think a vaccine is going to happen soon they might wish to defer their holiday. If people don't think covid is going away in the near future they may worry that they will not be able to take their holiday next year either or get their money back. There is also the worry of other people losing their jobs if everyone abandons holiday plans. Eg P&O Ferries have already made many staff redundant. We need transport companies to keep running not just for our holidays but to bring food and supplies into the country.

@chocolatviennois well put.

I don’t think Covid is going away anytime soon. I think we could be living like this for years.

I’m trying to navigate our best way to live with it.. this includes Holidays. I have 3 dcs. If we were to stay in this country for the rest of the school holidays we would end up meeting up with various friends family etc and lots of places are busy here at the moment. I don’t think going to France puts us at an increased exposure to it (of course I could be wrong). All dcs will return to school in a couple of weeks- again they will be mixing with their classes.

I’m keen on social distancing and mask wearing to reduce risk but I still plan to get away on holiday if we can.

I do not believe being in rural France presents too much of a risk. However I do not believe our insurances would be valid if we traveled against Foreign Office Advice.

@Friendsoftheearth

I have friends in France trying to get home (dh is French national) and ferries are full, tunnel bookings are full. They are now trying other ports in different countries, and they will have to drive there. Some people have jobs and can't take a month off.

Friendsoftheearth - again you are catastrophising! That statement about the ferries and the tunnel is simply not true. You have made your decision to defer, and others will make the best decision for their family based on the info available.

@Snooper22

I'm going Saturday to my house in France for 2 weeks, I can't wait. I'm flying to Geneva then driving.

This interests me. Since the borders in Europe aren't usually manned, how does quarantine apply if you've holidayed in France but entered and exited via another country. Who's to know you've even been in France?

@bakingbernie

I do not believe being in rural France presents too much of a risk. However I do not believe our insurances would be valid if we traveled against Foreign Office Advice.

Not all insurances. There are companies (Battleface) who don't take FCO advice into account for their cover.

@zippyswife

We’re going via Eurotunnel Thursday morning. Sounds ridiculous but I hadn’t even thought of travel being cancelled. I’m assuming we’ll get out there no problem and I’m assuming (maybe naively) that evening if quarantine has been brought in or local lockdowns that we’ll get back ok. If things are looking that worrying we’ll just leave early to get back through the tunnel I suppose. I sound laid back about it. I’m not. I’ve just got a bit bored of speculating and worrying myself over the maybes. I think the benefit a holiday and a bit of France would do for us as individuals and as a family would be massive and outweigh the risks as I see them at the minute. I’m normally extremely risk averse.

Hi Zippy, this is exactly how I feel! We are meant to be going in a few weeks and will be, as long as our insurance is valid and the boat is sailing

[quote chocolatviennois]@loveisagirlnameddaisy Brittany Ferries have kept their Spanish ferries going during the time Spain has been on the quarantine list, only cancelling one crossing a week after several weeks of quarantine being in place. I would therefore expect them to keep some services to France going. Even when we had complete lockdown in March P&O, DFDS and the tunnel were operating passenger services.[/quote]
Thanks Chocolat.

I note with interest that P&O refer to some of their routes continuing to run for 'essential' travel but they don't clarify what they mean by that.

@Snooper22

I'm going Saturday to my house in France for 2 weeks, I can't wait. I'm flying to Geneva then driving.

Will you still go if FCO advice re: France changes?

What worries me, and I only thought of this morning, is whether France could impose a quarantine on us when we arrive. That would scupper the whole holiday. Earlier in the easing of lockdown, French government policy was to impose a 'voluntary' quarantine on anyone coming from a country where people would be quarantined if they came to it from France (if that makes sense). I never found out how 'voluntary' it was as it was all couched in government-ese. I can't find the link now, but it was definitely on one of the official French governmental ministries that, in addition to a specific list of countries, there would be a reciprocal quarantine for anyone whose country imposed quarantine on France. The phrase used was 'sous réserve de réciprocité'.

I had already factored in the potential need to quaratine on return to the UK and am prepared to take the risk. But it would be a complete game changer if we had to quarantine on arrival in France.

We are dual nationality British and another European country (not France). I wonder whether it would make a difference what passport we travel on. Probably not, since we live in the UK.

Does anyone know anything about this?

Fink I think it’s quite likely France would impose a “reciprocal” quarantine, but I also think it’s likely that (like last time) it would be voluntary and they would drop big hints that it won’t be enforced. In other words, politically we have to impose a tit for tat reciprocal quarantine, but in reality we still want people to come here and spend money.

@Friendsoftheearth I’m afraid that’s not true, there is lots of availability on ferries. I’ve just had a look on the Brittany Ferries - absolutely fine this weekend! For instance St Malo-Portsmouth this Saturday, so many cabins left.