Observations after six weeks in France

We also returned from France last Sunday. Leaving Folkestone via the Tunnel was straight forward, we did have to find the Pets reception for our two dogs, hadn't been there before and better signage from the motorhome parking would have been better. Our AHC was fine, so our vet did well.
No issues with food etc as nobody checked. We had uploaded the French Anti Tout Covid app and added our NHS Covid passes but needed two devices to do so, getting our NHS covid pass on the Tablet and then Scanning into App from the mobile.
We had fabulous weather and a great time touring around, only met a couple of Brits.
Coming back it was a real faff getting Covid passes onto the Passenger Locator form, well for me as again needed two devices to scan it in. Is there an easier way? Equally uploading info for the Eurotunnel for the return journey, when I clicked upload it said allow camera, so again needed two devices! Is there an easier way? Thankfully we didn't need an Antigen test to return but had the PCR kit waiting at home.
 
Does anyone know if you have to pré order a lateral flow test & enter on the passenger locator form now please? In Switzerland at the moment, coming back in a couple of weeks.

PS to scan QR code from NHS App to another countries app, take a photo of it from another phone, then scan the photo.

NHS QR code isn't working in Switzerland at the moment because the code does not contain a signature apparently. We had to leave a bar last night, but other places are accepting ID with the QR code & letting us in! I believe this will be the same in Germany as their app won't let me import the NHS QR code either.
 
I had the same experience in France recently as the original poster and most others here. Unfailing warmth and politeness and helpfulness from the French. (And sympathetic bewilderment - which I share - as to why on earth we would want to turn our backs on Europe). Admittedly we stayed in our beloved Brittany the whole time, and as a Parisian friend said recently when we said that we loved Brittany, "All of France loves Brittany".

The TousCovid app (and incidentally the Italian equivalent I just found out) works perfectly - just scan the QR code of your British covid passport and in a couple of seconds it checks and loads your French covid passport. As others have said, the French are being much more sensible than many here, and ALL wear masks whenever there is close proximity, eg queuing outside, open air markets etc. And of course it is mandatory in all shops. To enter a cafe or restaurant (even sitting outside) you must show your TousCovid passport. While in Concarneau we went to the wedding of the daughter of an old friend and everyone at the reception were checked before being allowed in for either a double vac passport or a recent negative test.

Getting back was an expensive faff - PCR test in France and book UK PCR test and fill in passenger locator form online, all within 48 hours before leaving. But this has probably changed now, others may have up to date info.

We tend to mostly stay on campsites and one thing that struck us was the difference in price between France and UK. The most we ever paid in France was 18 euros with EHU (a wonderful, shady, quiet site, with various herbs planted everywhere that you were encouraged to pick. The day we left, the woman who owned the site gave us a tin of Brittany biscuits). A short break in Cheddar in an open field last week - £34 pn!

Add to all that the courtesy and politeness of the majority of French drivers (especially towards us cyclists), and the comparatively empty roads, and motorhoming in France is just a delight.
 
Except we didn't turn our backs on Europe, we left the European Union, which when we joined was a purely economic arrangement (the clue was in the then name, the EEC) , but has expanded into a economic and political union without ever seeking the democratic consent of the people of this or many of the other countries that constituted the original EEC.
 
I have left other forums in the past because they turned political. I have strong political opinions but this forum is not the place for that. So I apologise sincerely for the words "-which I share-" in my post. We are all entitled to our political opinions, but not, IMO, to push them on this sort of forum. Apologies again.

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Just returned from brilliant trip to France. We felt very welcome and politics didn't enter any discussion or attitudes - just a genuine welcome. Also we felt so much safer from Covid than at home. The French are so sensible with their use of masks and vaccination status. The TousAntiCovid app was brilliant - the QR code we loaded was the second vaccination one of the two on the NHS Travel version. (It wouldn't accept our single code intended for England only). My wife and I each had our own on our phones (as Favourite) and our also spouse's in the app's wallet and everywhere we went we were able to use one phone to show both passes. However, did see a couple of French ladies without phones using paper copies but we gave up carrying purs as the app always worked well. It doesn't slow things down really at all - maximum delay for app checking at a big football match with over 50,000 spectations was about 30 seconds! (I'm not brave enoiugh to go to a match in UK yet!!) It is my impression that French apps should work everywhere in the EU (thinking of the comments above re Germany and Switzerland) but I don't know.
 
Chris said:
I do like France or rather certain parts of France.

Its just the French I am not so keen on yodeli excepted.
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I'm going to have to have a lye down, Chris just admitted to liking France in public.
How many have you had Chris ? I hope the hangover is not too bad.
 
Mad dog said:
Does anyone know if you have to pré order a lateral flow test & enter on the passenger locator form now please? In Switzerland at the moment, coming back in a couple of weeks.

PS to scan QR code from NHS App to another countries app, take a photo of it from another phone, then scan the photo.

NHS QR code isn't working in Switzerland at the moment because the code does not contain a signature apparently. We had to leave a bar last night, but other places are accepting ID with the QR code & letting us in! I believe this will be the same in Germany as their app won't let me import the NHS QR code either.
Click to expand...
Yes👍 Pre ordering 2 day LFT test is still required. The number generated needs to be added to PLF within 48hrs of travel to England.
orridge found a company doing 2 day tests for £12.
www.simplytestme.co.uk

Home

Simply Test Me is no longer trading. Thankfully, the world has reopened and we are able to get back to 'normal' life. We thank you for your support over the recent difficult years, and hope we managed to make your life that little bit simpler with our testing solutions.
www.simplytestme.co.uk www.simplytestme.co.uk
 
Just returned from a 7 week tour of France, Spain, Portugal, Spain, France and our experience was similar in all those countries. Very, very few brits about. Lots of Germans, Dutch, French and in Spain and Portugal, Spanish and Portuguese. Also came acrosss a small number of Swiss, Belgians and Danish. All of whom were very friendly. One exception was Kiko Park near Estepona where there were a few British vans but they were by no means the majority, which they were 4 or 5 years ago. We went back from Spain into the French Pyrennes and the owner of the campsite there said this year she'd had very few Brits stopping.
We noticed the supermarket and fuel prices were higher than previously in France but less so in Spain. Portugal has to be the cheapest for food, campsites and eating out, but not fuel.
Campsite prices seem to have gone up everywhere, especially non ACSI sites.
One other good thing was the lack of rain. Only rained a few times, once in Northern France in early September, and agian across most of Spain one day in mid September, and traveling back through Northern France on the way to Calais. But it was nice and sunny once we got there.
 
Lots of reports of very few Brits, but we've always found that in France. We see a few that overtake us, or we overtake within a mile or three of the crossing, then we see very few till we're back near the port to come home and we start seeing them again Maybe they are there and we're blocking them out. '\

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UPDATE:

It seems that the CAMC have been reading posts on Motorhomefun as they have now linked in with Eurotunnel and all details can be entered on the Eurotunnel website. An excellent result.
 
Re the TousAntiCovid app
We used printed QR codes through France in late August/early September which were accepted in the few places we needed them.
They have now expired (only valid for a month) and we’re in Greece where we have had to show them when eating inside. (The rules changed again to be stricter on 1st November but here isn’t the place to go into that.) So I downloaded the TousAntiCovid app and loaded both our qr codes onto it and thus far they’ve been accepted here. I don’t really want to download an Italian app as well so I’m hoping they will accept them from the French one on our return in a week or so. I see no reason why they should’t as it’s just the code they need to see, the method of displaying it should be irrelevant.
 
I don’t know about Greece but in France you don’t need the tousanti app. They can just read the NHS qr code. If you don’t want any app just print on paper. But if you do download an app you can just delete it after.

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lunarman said:
TinaL Tolls on the A16 Start at Boulogne-sur-Mer. The stretch To Abbeville is the only Toll road we use as I find the non toll route tedious for some unknown reason.
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Does anyone know how much the A16 stretch of toll road to Abbeville costs ?
 
Adriaadventure said:
Does anyone know how much the A16 stretch of toll road to Abbeville costs ?
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hi. its about 18 euros & its worth using it driving through villages instead its ok if not in a rush in summer . we find the money we use on diesel is about the same as the toll with all those roundabouts val
 
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hi guys . with having a tag we found it better to use the m/ways when we could & dance around the village when not in a rush . being in our seventies & have a smaller m/h we keep on using the m/ways it can get expensive on a 3 month trip but its also the convenient of using it & there is no point in saving for a rainy day at our age & there are no pockets in shrouds . val
 
Chris said:
I do like France or rather certain parts of France.

Its just the French I am not so keen on yodeli excepted.
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hi guys . its an old line told France is a beautiful country the only problem is its full of French people . & the uk is getting the same its FULL of foreigners . val

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599 said:
hi guys . its an old line told France is a beautiful country the only problem is its full of French people . & the uk is getting the same its FULL of foreigners . val
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I don't think we have a lot of people in the UK without a UK passeport . If they have they aren't foreigner's just here by choice rather than accident like quite a few of the rest
 
The Wino said:
I don't think we have a lot of people in the UK without a UK passeport . If they have they aren't foreigner's just here by choice rather than accident like quite a few of the rest
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what's having a passport got to do with the price of fish ??. well if they aren't foreigners what are they. would you like me to call them gimmgrunts give me this give me that some people need to wakeup & smell the coffee . val
 
We are just on the DFDS, Dieppe:Newhaven ferry at the moment. I second “Simply Test Me” For cheap tests. Unfortunately we got caught by the recent change to PCR test on day 2 being the requirement. Luckily I was busy and hadn’t already ordered the £12 LFT’s. Found some prices still in the stupid £199 area then SimplyTestMe at £43. I signed up and pressed send with a little trepidation yesterday lunchtime but received two emails today from the Post Office that they were delivered through our letter box at 3pm today. So if the results deliveries are as good I will be well pleased.
 
As a follow-up to the above post about “Simply Test Me”. Unfortunately I didn’t realise that the day 2 test could be done on day 0 or 1 so didn’t do it till Saturday morning, day-2 so one test didn’t get delivered till Monday morning the other test was delivered Tuesday morning. The tracking showed it going a very strange route and back to the same depot twice. I got my negative result Monday night late Judy got hers late Tuesday night. So the “Simply Test Me” service for us was great the only holdups being in the postal service and because it was a weekend.
so why pay £100 which some providers are advertising when it can be done quickly for £43.
Hope this helpful to somebody.
Steve
 
Sadly the PCR test scandle is still with us. Our son recently getting conned with a cheap (Government approved) company offering £20 PCR tests only to find the test got lost even though the tracking showed it had been delivered. (all 6 got lost!!!) He had to start all over again and not a good result as there were 6 of them. On a brighter note we used Co-op and they have reduced their charges from £60 to £43 - still a rip off in my opinion.
 
HRH and i just paid £69 each with Collinsons. Expensive yes but one of the better reliable ones. Heard too many stories of the £20/5 ones going chest up. We couldn't afford the risk.
And agree, still a rip off at £40.
 

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