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

@chocolatviennois

I would not stop a planned trip to France in case they put on a voluntary quarantine as it appeared to be just that earlier in the summer. I think the main issues to consider are: 1; Travel insurance - worth upgrading to a company that covers you in countries where FCO advice is in place. Although if travelling to France you will still be covered by EHIC for medical issues. 2; Quarantine - will you be in a position to quarantine on return to the UK?

1. Mode of transport - if self-drive more options for coming back whereas if travelling by air and flight cancelled it would be harder to get back (although still possible by train or alternative flight)

We had to cancel our holiday due to the quarantine issue as could not risk our year 11 child missing the start of term. Our holiday also involved several countries which increased the risk of disruption crossing borders if cases were to rise further as the holiday went on. If we had just been going to France with younger children we would probably have gone ahead with the holiday and taken out the relevant travel insurance.

Have mentioned this before, but just to reiterate, an EHIC does not fully cover you for medical issues in France. This is such a common fallacy. EHICs may mean you don't have to pay upfront for treatment (not always though) but it only entities you to the same amount of medical cover as the state provides for the French. This is not 100% of the cost, its likely to be around 70% of it, and a smaller percentage of the cost of prescriptions and lab tests. Also, your 'b & b' isn't covered at all so you would have to pay that yourself too.

So as has been said, do make sure you are insured.

It’s great to hear positive stories from those who have decided to go! Have lovely trips.

Well done to all who went and hope you had a fab holiday. My cousin came and joined us from France on our holiday in wales, getting in about 12 hours before quarantine kicked in in U.K. If he has to quarantine in France on his return he’s not too bothered as he lives in the country and neighbours can drop shopping off for him.

Just to share that we are not finding it compulsory to book restaurants nor masks on primary kids.

We were in troyes, clemont ferrand, now near dijon. I am increasingly noticing masks on smaller kids but noone has asked ours to. Everyone is looking at us in shops but I don't know if it is because we are loud and English or re kids masks.

No need to book restaurants here in the south too but it is packed everywhere ! Lots of mask wearing but hardly any social distancing.

No compulsory restaurant booking here, but you won't get a table if you don't book. I think because social distancing is only 1m, people really aren't bothering. Almost full compliance with adult mask wearing and many children are wearing them.

We had no problem getting through airport and my sister got in from spain. People are wearing masks in shops etc no problems with drinking in bars. Having a great time glad I came!

We've arrived and its beautiful, blue sky and no wind. Ferry was quite but fine not even a locator form to fill in ! We are off to enjoy our socially distanced holiday 😀 hope you all have a great time and get here if you can .

We’re off to the tunnel!!

For people looking for insurance, I went with battleface initially, for £140. But yesterday I switched to Staysure who have just started covering travel to countries on the FCO blacklist. It was £40 and we’re not covered for COVID treatment which we were with the more expensive cover, but everything else is valid.

We got back last night. We were literally on our way under the Channel on the 13th when the announcement came through re quarantine. We were supposed to be meeting up with friends, but they were due to travel the Friday, and decided not to risk it. We're so glad we went, it was gorgeous, with yummy rosé, croissants, baguettes and all the cheese 😁.

We didn't book any restaurants, had no issues getting in anywhere. Masks worn everywhere, indoors and out, gel everywhere, but little social distancing. Although it was slightly refreshing not having people plastering themselves against walls when you dare to pass them on the pavement like we get here.

Would love to see the stats of imported Covid cases from travellers, and what kind of holidays they were on. I know this probably isn't possible, but I personally think there's a vast difference between holding up in a rural bite, visiting the local Intermarche vs cramming into tiny bars for apres-ski, or drinking fishbowl cocktails in Magaluf...I know you have to have one rule for all, but...

It's great that you have all enjoyed your holidays but now 3 restaurants have shut down in the last 4 days in my French coastal town and 4-6 new cases are found every day.

The economy needs tourists, so have relaxed lockdown this summer but hospitals are filling up already and Sept 7th school start is looking less and less certain every passing day

@CoteDAzur I can appreciate your concerns about schools reopening and hope your kids will be able to go back to school at the start of term. However I very much doubt British families are primarily responsible for the rise in covid cases in France. Most people I know postponed their holidays till next year and others like us never made it to France due to the imposition of travel restrictions and quarantine. I expect that those who still came were mainly going to self catering properties. I was a bit surprised that various countries opened up restaurants without social distancing and I'm not sure if it was the case in France but nightclubs opened in Spain. Anyway I hope that now the holidays are coming to an end the cases will decrease in your area and the other affected areas in France.

Schools are definitely going back on the 1st of September in France.

LaChatte - "Schools are definitely going back on the 1st of September in France" is a bit of generalization and not entirely correct, is it? Friends' DC are starting tomorrow, and mine are starting two different schools on September 7th.

Hopefully starting on Sept 7th, I mean. Judging by the number of cases, closing restaurants and bars, as well as as a heightened sense of emergency, it looks possible that the rentrée might be online.

chocolat - Where have I said that British tourists are "primarily responsible"?

My area has opened up for commerce and tourism which I understand, but it's now looking like there will be a social cost for the locals. The responsible thing to do during this exceptional time would be to limit one's travels to the extent possible, but all I hear in RL is people feeling entitled to their holidays abroad and either modifying their planes to depart from or land in non-blacklisted countries to come to France or lying in their statements back in the UK to avoid quarantine.

Restaurants and bars have implemented social distancing to a certain degree, but the worst is the planes in which tourists sit like sardines for hours and use the same tiny toilet before coming here.

We should be in France this week for my friends wedding. Hate missing it but we couldn’t do the quarantine period. Luckily they had their local French friends with them and some of their families were able to make the trip. Part of me wishes we had gone.

Where are schools going back in the 7th? I need to change schools!

Huh, we've gone into red in our area, not sure what it means though. I really really want schools to go back normally, I feel so bad for the kids.

LaChatte - Sorry, I'm not going to pinpoint my exact location but it's somewhere on the Cote d'Azur, just like the school starting tomorrow.

We're also in a red zone.

By all French schools, I mean state school, not private.

I haven't done any of the things you mention, CoteDAzur - lying and cheating. Nor did I travel to France on a plane.

I drove to France to stay in a family-owned property and did not go to any bars or beaches or nightclubs. I went once to a restaurant to meet up with French friends (we sat outdoors) and to Intermarche Drive a few times to pick up gigantic quantities of shopping. I probably had not v much more contact with other people than I did during our so called lockdown in the UK. We travelled from an area of low incidence in the UK to a zone of low incidence in France. We drove down in one hit via the tunnel where we all sat in our own cars during the crossing and back up in another. Absolutely brutally tiring but worth it not to put ourselves or anyone else at risk.

I am sure we are not alone in travelling as responsibly as we can!

Oh and I will absolutely be adhering to my quarantine, boring as it is.

Where have I said that British tourists are "primarily responsible"?

The way you phrased your comment certainly made it sound like that .

We cancelled our French trip. Sounds like we wouldn't have been very welcome any way.

I know 2 families who are just back and should be quarantining but are out and about, makes me really angry. as it was always a risk when they decided to go ahead with their holiday.