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

Thanks @madbirdlady22 and @Fairybio. My Airbnb lady has just replied it's masks in shops and markets not on the beach (at the moment!) where we're supposed to be going. Going to try to work out Airbnb refund policy this evening as it's not clear and looks like we might be able to cancel after all. I'm not worried about us getting it/ not being able to speak French etc but I don't really want to go on holiday if restaurants closed and forms required for every outing. Having said that if we would have to forfeit the cost of gite we wouldn't be able to go anywhere else instead so would consider going and making best of it. Booked last Sept in an attempt to get it done and out of the way! Argh.

@smogsville I'm the same as you.
Our campsite has said we'd lose our deposit because they are open and covid safe so there's no reason for us not to go. We'd also lose our ferry money as we didn't pay the extra for cancellation/amendments.
So we're set to lose £1k. However we'd have to pay another £1.5k to pay the final payments on everything.
So we either lose the £1k and don't go, or we risk losing £2.5k by going and ending up in a local lockdown and not being able to enjoy the things we usually do when we holiday in France.
And we only have until Thursday to decide!

oh @Bezzi that's a decision and a half isn't it! This is the other thing about it - holidays are supposed to be relaxing, not a constant vigilance, what on earth's going to happen next exercise.

Then again, if this is a version of how things are likely to be from now on, part of me thinks perhaps it's better to just get on with it, safely and carefully of course. The fact that we're driving means we'd be able to get back under our own steam (Eurotunnel hasn't stopped running the whole time, have the ferries?). I would be wary of flying as I can just imagine endless calls to airlines who don''t have a clue/ waiting in long queues at airports.

I’ve just been for two weeks (travelled out on the 10th when the rules changed) and come back. We drove via the tunnel.

We were staying in a rural gite with a pool so we just stayed there most of the time. We self catered and bought food at local markets and supermarkets. The supermarkets were pretty empty with no queues, but it’s a sparsely populated area with not a huge amount of tourism. The markets were busier, no real distancing but handwashing at the entrance and masks worn. They are mostly outdoors though. We went to a couple of restaurants which were pretty full and masks not worn at the table. Reasonable distance between tables. Did two day trips to tourist places and they were fairly busy - but it would have been easy to skip those trips and still have a very nice holiday.

Any specific q’s happy to answer. Of course the big unknown is how things will develop over the summer.

Before we cancelled, we were thinking that if a quarantine was announced, we could jump in the car and try to get back to the UK before it happened. But Spain only got 5 hours' notice, and we wouldn't have made it in time with a similar warning. I'm guessing that there would be a massive queue for the Eurotunnel too.

And having paid nearly £3k for the week (including travel), that would mean a big waste if we couldn't finish the week.

Just checked Airbnb. It turns out you can in fact cancel and get refund (as our trip was booked before March and we travel in August). Feel like a bit of an idiot for making such a fuss instead of just... checking the damn website

We are also due to go mid August. Already paid up so usual fees will apply to cancel. I think we will wait and see . Quarantine isn't an issue as we are wfh. Also driving so not waiting for flights etc . I really hope we can still go as I've worked all the way through and desperate for a break.

@norri @smogsville and anyone else. Have you decided to go or not go yet?
DH is firmly on the fence so I feel like it's up to me to decide. Although he is currently outside putting the finishing touches onto the camping trailer

Not decided yet just watching and waiting but the fact that quarantine has been reduced to ten days for Spain helps as means kids wouldn't miss any school. Now that we know we'd get refunded for Airbnb the pressure is off a bit. Think we're going to wait and see. I really want to go and could put up with the odd privation. We spent ages choosing this particular place and have been looking forward since Sept. I want oysters and muscadet and crepes and galettes (so it all restaurants closed I'll just drink muscadet from supermarkets and eat crisps for two weeks).

Meanwhile, whilst we discuss mussels and wine on this thread the Prime Minister announces that the second wave HAS begun in Europe.

We do know this means thousands and thousands of deaths right

I sometimes feel like I am living in a parallel universe

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-second-coronavirus-wave-has-begun-in-europe-says-boris-johnson-vs6jcglzf

Paywall, unfortunately.

We booked 2 weeks ago for mid September, euro tunnel & gite, thought we'd be safe enough but now not so sure.

Luckily the tunnel was very reasonable & not paying for the accommodation as going with the friends who own it (separate cars, in our social bubble etc) so wouldn't lose a lot of money if we don't go.

Dh is wfh for the foreseeable but I need to actually go into my place of work so not sure what we'll do.

@madbirdlady22 do you mean you're offended by lighthearted comments? Are we supposed to be miserable forever and never share any banter simply bc BJ is trying to make it look as if Europe is in a worse state than the UK to detract from his govt's failings?

Or if I've mistaken your meaning please disregard the above!

We're booked to fly to France soon - nowhere near any Covid hotspots, infact we'll be staying in the middle of nowhere! The entire departement is right near the bottom of all the tables for infection rates and deaths and there's been no Covid related deaths since mid June.

A 14 day quarantine coming back to the uk would be ok, we work from home, kids would be bored though!

Am trying not to think about whether to go or not but I guess I'll have to decide soon!

We are currently still intending to go next Friday. Trying not to think about all this too much. Will make the decision at the time...

smog A second wave could and may very well kill even more people than the first, and is already understood to have started in Europe. Do you not remember how stressful it was when tourists become stranded, and ill and borders closed overnight? Nor the sheer horror of losing 45,000 people in just a few months. I don't know if you have been somewhere else for the last six months, but it has been pretty dire to say the least, and we are just about to go through the same again. So forgive me if your 'lighthearted' bants is going down badly, but it might be worth checking your own filter.

** became

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-53575875

www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/France-may-return-to-UK-s-Covid-quarantine-list

www.euronews.com/2020/07/28/coronavirus-germany-and-austria-battle-local-outbreaks-as-italy-sets-1-000-face-mask-fine

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/26/france-could-placed-second-lockdown-cases-keep-rising-pm-warns/

No evidence of a 2nd wave. I would listen to experts, not Johnson.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/29/one-big-wave-why-the-covid-19-second-wave-may-not-exist-coronavirus

@madbirdlady22 it's not the thread for that discussion though with all due respect.

This thread was about people with a holiday already booked to France who are debating if they should still go or not.
It was a friendly and helpful chat between a lot of people in the same boat.

I wouldn't book a holiday now no, but having booked last year and paid out a lot of money already, yes it is a worthy debate weather we should still go or not.
We are all more than aware what has gone on this year and aware of the threat of a second wave. Having worked the entire time as a key worker and with DH as an emergency services front line key worker I don't need your links to inform me of what has gone on thanks.

I don't think this is the thread for you. You seem a bit angry. I didn't come here for a fight, just a chat with people in the same boat.

Hope you have a nice day

@smogsville your lighthearted banter was very welcome to me btw (just sayin!)
And everyone else's input

@madbirdlady22 this wasn't a thread about second waves though it was about holiday feasibility so lighthearted comments shouldn't be considered offensive or in bad taste, surely? I've been keeping an eye on Eurotunnel the entire time and it's never stopped allowing people through for essential purposes (going home for example) so I'm confident we could get back quickly if we needed to. I'm not confident that we would be more at risk in France given the fairly private nature of our trip (gite, just hanging out as a family, beach and bike rides/ walks) than in a popular UK holiday resort (which might also be subject to a sudden lockdown or new restrictions, see Oldham) so let's not make this one of those threads where people start a war with each other as for me it's proved really useful to share stories with others in similar positions. Peace?

Well, to throw in my two penn'orth, we're still hoping to go on the 14th. Like others, we booked last year - camping/self-drive/tunnel - and, despite two travel insurance policies, I don't think we will get any refunds at this stage. I suspect we will be able to move the tunnel to a future date, but changing the campsite to next year with no penalty depends on the goodwill of the campsite itself. Having already spoken to them, they are open and, by all accounts, very quiet.

Dh and I have been fortunate to work all the way through - I'm in a related healthcare industry, although not frontline - and I'm exhausted. I have looked at alternatives in the UK, but the costs are huge on top of what we already stand to lose. I'm well aware that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but I am not expecting either a cure or a vaccine for this anytime soon. We need to find a way of living alongside this virus which, for me, means assessing the risks carefully and making an informed decision closer to the time. I'm not suitably convinced that France is any worse than we are - virus levels are very similar - and will expect to take any suitable precautions when out and about, in the same way as we do here.

That's good to hear and nice of you to say @Bezzi so thanks!