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

We are going to north Brittany the last week of August. We cancelled our holiday in Spain and booked this as an alternative. We have been to the location before and know that its a quiet place. Am a bit worried about the rise in cases in Brittany

Lots of towns in Brittany have made masks compulsory outdoors too, to help counter the increase in cases.

Sky News report link below on how it's all kicking off in France...

I'm based over here and the R number has suddenly shot up in Brittany since the schools broke up 3 weeks ago. Worst affected nationally is the nearby Mayenne region, but Brittany is not too far behind. Same for Paris, I believe.

The economy is in such a bad way that I don't think they'll attempt another national lockdown but they might go for whack-a-mole. Last time they announced lockdown it was enforced within 20 hours, so any decision might be made very quickly.

I'd be VERY wary of making plans to visit. Sorry for scaremongering, I know it's not what you'll want to hear but I've heard that people in Paris are starting to panic buy again (haven't seen for myself, but according to friends) and I wouldn't be surprised if the government takes action. Life has felt quite normal over these last few weeks and people have been much more complacent than in the UK with regard to social distancing and wearing masks.

 Coronavirus: France sees 'significant' surge in cases as COVID-19 traces found in Paris sewage system news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-france-sees-significant-surge-in-cases-as-covid-19-traces-found-in-paris-sewage-system-12034944

Thanks for the info @mamansnet and @LaChatte. I've now read some local news articles from the place we're going to and am in touch with our Airbnb hosts to find out what's what with regards to masks. Looks like they're now obligatory when walking about outside for adults. If we don't go we won't get any money back on the accommodation )unless FCO says don't go which I can't imagine they will), so we'll keep monitoring the situation and plan to take some loo roll and essentials in the car with us if we do go, in mitigation.

I'm in France at the moment in a village in the South - I've been very surprised at the level of mask compliance even when not strictly needed and the lack of kissing. I would say things are fairly relaxed though - certainly the supermarkets and weekly outdoor markets feel the same as ever albeit just with people in masks. The atmosphere feels lots more normal than in the UK. We have been to cafes but not any restaurants yet so not sure what they're like.

I’m in France on holiday now and it feels safer here than the uk. Mask wearing is nearly 100%, hand gel is everywhere and most places still have one way systems and spacing markers down.

I haven’t been to any restaurants yet either.

I was in restaurants in a popular tourist area in the south last week.
In the fast food restaurant, people who entered without a mask were handed one for free on entry and put it on no problem at all. You have to wear a mask when not sat at your table.

We also went to a couple of regular restaurants. Very relaxed on mask wearing to walk to the table, but this was outside on the terrace. All staff were wearing masks of course. In one place the tables were pretty close together, but this was to try and get in the shade!

The restaurants were quieter than normal for this time of year, but there are very few foreign tourists here so that has a major impact.

I find life in France is fairly normal now other than wearing masks, lots of hand gel, and all the floor stickers and one way systems in place in the shopping centres. Shops in the two shopping centres I've been in have a set number of customers allowed in the individual shops. When it's full, you queue outside. The Apple store was the only shop I noticed that consistently had a queue outside! There has also been a noticeable increase in security staff at the shopping centres.

For other context about normality, I go to the office as normal now and the DC attend their holiday day care.

However, like @mamansnet has mention above, even though I see no signs of a surge in cases in my area yet, I am prepping and ensuring that my pantry is very well stocked (without panic buying) and I will be careful not to run down my levels in the coming weeks and months. I haven't noticed any panic buying in my area. The thing I can't find anywhere is large size washing up gloves!

I have just seen the latest infection rate for France in the Sunday Times this morning, France seems to be following the same pattern as Spain.

We are booked to go in August and are now changing our plans and switching our booking to next year whilst we still can. I love France and we head there every summer, and I am sad that we can't go, but I don't want to be stuck in a lockdown or stranded anywhere.

We held out on making a decision as long as we could, hoping that things would work out differently, but all the signs are pointing towards a second wave.

What is people’s opinion on euro disney?? Good idea?? Would it be quieter than normal? Good time to go??

@madbirdlady22 who is your holiday with? interesting that you're able to move your booking at such a late stage. We could move our Eurotunnel tickets to next year but we'd lose all the money spent on the Airbnb (unless FCO advice changes).

Apparently Disney is open but limiting entry to 24,000 people per day, so you have to book on a specific day. So the queues should be smaller! That said, I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing localised lockdowns happening here in France soon.

We are currently in France. We were in Paris for a night before loving to Reims and Strasbourg. Next week we will be at a lake/forest hotel. We came by Eurostar.

Everywhere has felt very Covid safe. Masks are being worn indoors everywhere and compliance is high. It's also being enforced. Hand gel is everywhere too.

SD is 1m but it's usually easy to stay much further away from people.

On things like the boat trips etc only 50% seats are being used.

We go to a theme park tomorrow which will mean masks all day.

I was really nervous before coming but it's been fine here. And everyone is welcoming.

Hopefully the numbers won't rise too high and they'll be able to use local measures to stamp down any outbreaks.

Has anyone's thoughts changed since the whole Spain thing?
We're supposed to be going Aug 13th, have to make our mind up to pay the rest or lose the deposit by this Thursday.
Actual risk wise I'm not worried, we're driving and self catering. I'm just worried about a local lockdown happening while we're there and nothing being open etc.
We're going to Vendee. Not sure what the stats are like for that area. Anyone any idea?

I can't advise you to go or not, but the Vendée is not yet on the list of hotspots, although it is very close (Brittany and the Mayenne are worst affected). R number is currently 1.3, so creeping up.

I would say life in France feels relatively normal - I'm about to take a 2.5 hour train from an area not too far from the Vendée and other than wearing a mask, life feels very normal. I would say that the bigger risk to you is the UK government imposing a 14 day quarantine on people travelling back from France while you're here - you need to decide if you can manage that rather than be worried about getting caught up in a lockdown in the French side. At this point, anyway.

If they announce a lockdown here it will most likely be localised, which would give you a few hours to get out of the area, but of course I'm not advocating that as you'd then be at risk of spreading the virus to neighbouring areas

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. It's helpful to know what life in France is like. And helpful to know that at the moment vendee isn't a hotspot.
14 day quarantine on return wouldn't be a problem as we can both work from home and have family nearby who could drop in shopping.
Thank you.

I'm in France at the moment too. Mask-wearing is very prevalent, I've noticed. There were no queues at the supermarket but some short ones outside the bakery. Some of the museums seem to have pre-booking or limited numbers but not all. The ferry was much quieter than usual and we have seen hardly any British cars but loads from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy.

Have posted elsewhere, but the French Pm is warning of a second lockdown as cases are rising-despite the mask wearing.

www.fr24news.com/a/2020/07/france-could-be-placed-under-second-lockdown-if-cases-continue-to-rise-pm-warns.html

@Bezzi I think I take a similar view to you. I'm not worried about 14 days quarantine, a bit irritating but not end of world workwise, kids would miss a few days of school but we now all know that's not a disaster.

@lifeafter50 what would a local lockdown look like in France? Here we were allowed out for food/ medicine shopping and exercise. Would beaches be closed for example? Could we go for bike rides.

For the 8 weeks of lockdown, we had to fill in a form and tick a box explaining our reason for being out every time we left the house. Choices were shopping for essentials, medical visits, keyworker status or unable to wfh, helping vulnerable family members and so on. You could go out for an hour's exercise every day, although in reality you could just fill in several forms and go out multiple times. I never got stopped once.

Beaches were closed, forests, all non-essential (food) shops, all public buildings, museums, campsites too I think - the works. Public transport worked but I never used it so can't say what it was like. Supermarkets were open but you had to SD queue outside, unless you were pregnant like me and got in immediately!

That said, the economy has taken such a massive hit that i honestly can't see the govt imposing a national lockdown just yet.

Thanks @mamansnet that's helpful. Where do you get the forms from? We wouldn't have a printer as at holiday gite. If I could cancel and get a refund/ voucher/ rebooking at this stage I think I would. Finistere is 'orange' which presumably means it's quite likely to be locally locked down? Appreciate yours and others' answers and help on this, thank you.

I've just left a neighbouring département to Finistère and the general feeling is that Covid is now arriving, whereas Brittany had been green until the schools broke up 3 weeks ago and people like me started showing up, although I had a medical need to be there!

Can't say what will happen with a lockdown though. Mayenne has got it worse (pays de la Loire) and they haven't locked down yet, so watching the reaction there might be a good way to gauge things.

At one point during the lockdown, it was possible to fill in the form via your phone, although we never bothered as we'd already printed off about 100 forms with our name and address already written down.

Feel free to tag me on here if there are any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer!

We were going to Annecy in August, but we've cancelled it this morning.

Worried about the chance of quarantine, and the lack of time to get back to UK if one was announced. We've managed to get a refund for our accommodation and Eurotunnel, and we're going to Scotland.

Thanks again @mamansnet I'll keep an eye on Mayenne, that's a good idea. Must now do some work instead of wasting time worrying about what I can't influence.

@Fairybio I've driven past Annecy it's beautiful. Scotland should be fab too though. How did you manage to obtain a refund in your accommodation at this late stage, if you don't mind my asking?

We booked through Homeaway, and had until 1st August to cancel.

We cancelled too. Sadly.

The last thing France needs right now is a second wave, and if they have one - the very very last thing they need is thousands of extra ill tourists to look after !! Especially ones that have no idea how to converse in French, and could be seriously ill for months in their hospitals if they are unlucky.