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

@Fink Previously, when the rates were much higher in the U.K., the quarantine for tourists (any nationality) in France was voluntary, so I wouldn’t worry this time. I found a screenshot I took at the time and the exact phrase was travellers ‘sont invités à effectuer une quatorzaine volontaire’ - literally ‘invited to follow a voluntary quarantine’.

@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.

Sorry but that is scaremongering nonsense. I just went on Brittany Ferries website and tried to book a random ferry back to the UK for this Thursday. There was availability for the first ferry I picked.

Thanks @CrumpetsAndPuzzles and @minipie, that's reassuring to know. I was worrying as it's hard to decipher what the official messages actually boil down to on the ground. Good to have some more knowledgeable input.

@Friendsoftheearth

You have clearly been coming back to this thread so would you be kind enough to answer the previous question about this "definite" quarantine that you have been told about.

Your recent posts suggest that you are not bothering with any basic fact checking and it is frankly irresponsible to be posting false information on a thread where people are looking facts to help them make informed choices.

looking for facts.

Fink I’m no authority sorry, just my own opinion!

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.

Absolute bollocks.

@loveisagirl yes I will be going even if FCO advise against it.

I have just tried to book Eurotunnel Calais to Folkstone for tomorrow, loads of availability. You can take your pick.

minipie, Well you know more about it than me anyway. I work with French people but none of them have been home this year, and I haven't travelled either, so all my information is third hand and guess work.

Different question: I don't usually use Eurotunnel so I'm not familiar with procedure. I've looked at the website and it seems like this should be ok but just checking - if I bring back an extra passenger from France that I didn't have on the outward trip, is that ok? And do I need to do anything about it? It's saying that I only need to give advance passenger information for the outward journey, but is that on the assumption that the same people will be returning or just because the British authorities don't want it?

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.

That's simply not true.

I've just checked Eurostar now for travel to France and I can back 4 tickets for several different times of the day throughout this week and next. The channel tunnel is the same, and sky scanner is showing several flights available. There seems to be fairly good availability of ferry crossings into France too.

I'm not sure where your friends were looking, for which dates and with which carriers but they can't have been looking with very much flexibility.

So just to be clear currently there is availability on planes, ferries, Eurostar and the tunnel. Why would anyone try to mislead people into thinking otherwise

if I bring back an extra passenger from France that I didn't have on the outward trip, is that ok? And do I need to do anything about it?

Always check your boot and roof box before driving onto the train.

@MsWoodentop

So just to be clear currently there is availability on planes, ferries, Eurostar and the tunnel. Why would anyone try to mislead people into thinking otherwise

The same poster also claims to have had a text saying that France is now definitely on the quarantine list, but they haven't been willing to say where they got this information from.

Totally irresponsible.
They probably don't even realise that they are just scaremongering by parroting unsubstantiated information (which they appear to believe is true).

Insurance question here (just tried insurer and they’re closed: will call tomorrow to confirm but not sure if anyone here knows...)

We are due to get the ferry overnight on Friday - leaving 8.15pm and arriving in France on Saturday.

If the FCO advice changed at, say, midnight on Friday I wonder if we’d still be covered?

Last time I spoke to the insurer they said we’d be covered if we had already left the UK but I have this awful feeling we will be in limbo in the Channel when the advice changes!

@BringBackDoves

Insurance question here (just tried insurer and they’re closed: will call tomorrow to confirm but not sure if anyone here knows...)

We are due to get the ferry overnight on Friday - leaving 8.15pm and arriving in France on Saturday.

If the FCO advice changed at, say, midnight on Friday I wonder if we’d still be covered?

Last time I spoke to the insurer they said we’d be covered if we had already left the UK but I have this awful feeling we will be in limbo in the Channel when the advice changes!

I'm interested to know this too!

Well if nobody here knows I’ll update tomorrow!

I would imagine it’s from when you get on the ferry/Eurotunnel. Or it’s departure time. But I’m just guessing. I don’t actually know.

@BringBackDoves - it must be from when you've checked in on ferry; you can hardly get ferry to turn around half way.

[quote Squigglypig2]@BringBackDoves - it must be from when you've checked in on ferry; you can hardly get ferry to turn around half way.[/quote]
it would be like Tom Hanks in The Terminal. Constant limbo aboard Brittany Ferries, nothing to eat but beef bourgignon

We are due to be heading to France early Friday morning (1.30am Eurotunnel). A week or so ago the tunnel was fully booked for that morning 6am-midday slots, but now showing as having availability (albeit hugely inflated prices), suggesting people have either cancelled or re-booked onto earlier crossings in attempt to escape the UK (I don't blame them!).

We are fortunate that we can both work from home in event of quarantine, if this is imposed after we leave. BUT, having spoken to our car insurance this evening (Direct Line) they have informed me that, if the government advice changes before we leave, such that France is added to the list of countries where non-essential travel is not advised, then our car insurance will not be valid! if the guidance changes once we've set a toe in France, we're ok, but not if the rules change beforehand. We were taking a 'sod it, let's go anyway' approach up until then, but would have to cancel if this was the case. Not sure the campsite would be prepared to refund/issue a credit this late in the day either. So fed up with this whole situation.

We are camping with friends who are leaving 24 hrs before us - we are waiting until Thursday as Ds is expecting A level results that day. We face the situation where our friends make it out of the country, and we don't. I appreciate this is a first-world situation, but so exhausted with working through the whole of lockdown - in a health-related profession, not that it matters - and desperate now for a break! Never been as stressed as this before in the run-up to a holiday.

It's absolutely excruciating isn't it? I've spent the day checking for updates.
Worst case is it changing while we're at the airport, then what?

That’s really annoying about car insurance. I hadn’t realised that. That changes things for us.

It sounds like it will be announced on Thursday, just like it was for Belgium. I’ve been checking my phone all day too though!