So that's it then, France is off! Quarantine from Sunday 4.00am

We came to Australia to live near our only daughter and husband and our 3 gorgeous grandchildren (who we never thought we would ever have) 20 months ago. We sold the house in the UK on the day we put it up for sale which was fantastic but also a shock.....we had to pack up and get out! We left in December 2018 planning (& fully expecting) to go back after 6 months to tidy up loose ends and see our families but we had issues with building work we were having done here and couldn't do it. We considered going for Xmas 2019 but decided that the cost (double or triple) was unnecessary and decided to go in April/May. We were all (our kids and grand kids) going for a week in Thailand first and then we were going on to the UK for a month to visit family we hadn't seen for what seemed like forever ! Yes, you've guessed correctly.................along came Covid-19 :-( We had the flights, accommodation in all the countries paid for and then cancelled) It's now 20 months since we saw our family in the UK, it's 6 months since we had a 2 night break on the Coast. We are now in strict lockdown, can't travel more than 5Km, gyms, shops, bars, restaurants are all closed, masks are compulsory and we have to be indoors by 8pm. .......but if you look at the figures for Australia we are way down at the bottom of the pile when it comes to cases and deaths! I want it to stay that way!!... I wish I could go to the UK to see family and friends I didn't get time to say goodbye to, (it's not just WHERE you go, it's all the people you have to meet along the way) I would be happy to just go to the coast, I would just be happy to go to local mall, in fact....I would be delighted to just take my grandchildren to the fabulous local park that has just been built in our town....but...... the last thing I want to do is contract this ba****d of a virus and die so...............let's hang on in there, keep your chin up (or in my case chins after the lockdown ?...................
P.S. I quite like lockdown,? I like the lack of traffic and the noise it creates, I like the lack of crowds........but I also realise the isolation is not good.....for anyone.

Thank you for your understanding Ellianne and anna.
Today is daughter’s day off so we’ve had the children, Grandad took them to the park whilst I wasted spent time on Gransnet. My daughter has been frantically looking and found a lovely villa in Norway. She says it’s near lots of outdoor things to do, walking, maybe paddle boarding, chair lift rides etc. They are a very outdoor type of family anyway. Daughter runs a lot, even runs marathons, and the running has provided an important outlet for her stress levels during this time. Unfortunately for the lockdown period, we weren’t able to babysit, and so it fell to her overworked husband, who was already working excessive hours, evenings and weekends as well as his normal hours.
When the children go home shortly, we’ll tackle our regular Friday house cleaning. Oh joy, and no longer a little break to look forward to. I expect we’ll be dog sitting now instead.

I would have thought that the British were a more dangerous infection risk to other countries and should have been banned from going elsewhere in the first place.

Will not see one another

Grammaretto

Why is a holiday absolutely necessary?
My DSis and BiL set off to France as if there is no pandemic. They justify it to themselves.
Can't we go without just once? It would seem not.

Some holidays were booked way before there was any news of a virus. My family cancelled their once in a lifetime holiday but have lost out quite a lot.

I am told that Australia has closed its borders until some time in 2021 and that means many families will see one another for a very long time.

The French transport minister says France will introduce the same quarantine measures.

To all these people saying holiday in this country I would like to know where. Believe me I have looked. Everywhere is booked solid. Even September is more or less fully booked and September is no good to people with children anyway. It also overpriced and so crowded if you do manage to find something. We have friends is Cornwall who are not venturing out until the holiday crowds have gone. Even beautiful Northumberland is fully booked.

I think most of us knew that once people started doing their own thing again the virus would strike. A pandemic takes months on end to disperse-----18 months to 2 years at least until it's gone through the seasons.

We cancelled earlier this year. It was all set up-gîte with a pool, Premium Tickets for Futuroscope and Puy du Fou, near the beach and not too remote from places we wanted to see. I cried when we cancelled, but I’m so relieved now.
Just read a post from someone who designated themselves as a rebel and says they don’t need BJ to make decisions for them so they’re going!
They bitterly criticise others with the same ‘rebel’ attitude who won’t wear masks, cram onto beaches, park at the roadside in the Lakes and other tourist spots when they can’t get onto sites.
We’re staying here. Let’s hope we stay safe.

I agree with your final sentence maddyone. These workers must be exhausted and drained, both mentally and physically. They so need a break and a change of scenery.
All jobs can be stressful, but some are highly demanding and carry such responsibility. An individual can only take so much.
I'm searching my brain for a holiday alternative for your daughter and family.

A quick ? to any French residents ....
Is there online supermarket shopping these days en France?

Thank you anna. I truly don’t think many retired people understand how vital a holiday is for key workers who have been working flat out through this pandemic. It’s so easy to say, oh just stay at home, you don’t need a holiday. If you’ve both been working many extra hours looking after patients including Covid19 patients, and organising primary services in your area (my daughter’s additional job as well as her work as a doctor) and childcare is taken away, baby hurriedly put into a nursery as no GP childcare, children in key worker childcare but not receiving much in the way of education, keeping house, shopping, teaching children whenever and wherever, then at the end of all this, with another winter looming and it all happening again, then those people need a break.

Otherwise they will not be fit to look after you all again next winter.

Maddyone why can’t your daughter have a holiday in the UK? There are some beautiful places to get away from it all without the problems and uncertainty of travelling abroad. I am sure she and her husband richly deserve a break and to get away without all the problems of foreign travel would do them more good than worrying about flights, ferries, etc.

Quarantine returning from France was always a possibility. It’s a chance you take. What really riles me is that the second this was posted airlines quadrupled their fares. I know they’re having a hard time at the moment, but that seems so greedy.

As there is a kind of informal poll going on here, I'm adding to the posts asking why people can't just stay at home for once and that official advice has been don't travel for some time.
I have NO sympathy, whatever the excuses if people are now in trouble. As long as people keep moving around, the virus will proliferate.

Oopsadaisy3 - yes you could still go but if you go against Foreign Office travel advice any medical insurance you have is invalid. Probably not a good idea to travel without health insurance.
I don't think France has put in place reciprocal quarantine measures yet, have they?

You are so right H1954. People should have a bit more sense and patience and think just a bit about this pandemic. It is not nice. A lot of people have died and many still suffering the after effects not knowing how long it will take for them to recover.
We all have to do our bit and use common sense. Hopefully it will not last for ever and a vaccine may be found.

humptydumpty

I believe it's 4am SATURDAY, not Sunday, isn't that right?

As I understand it - it begins four hours into Saturday, not Sunday - so you're right.

I hope your daughter manages to find something maddy one. We are retired so if we dont have a holiday so be it but I feel very sorry for younger people who maybe desperately need a break. My son is a key worker and he and his young family are away at the moment. I dont blame them a bit.

well I feel a lot better about the thoughts I have been having about holidays abroad!

but then it is easy for me as I don`t go on holiday!

I feel for everyone, but it`s fact...

I believe it's 4am SATURDAY, not Sunday, isn't that right?

France is no longer on the list of countries that are exempt from government advice against "all but essential international travel".
DH has cancelled his planned fishing trip as this is not "essential" and has managed to get refunds/deferrals.

My son was looking at transport ideas, last night, with the notion of visiting some friends in France. They live in a very quiet place, but I wasn’t keen on the idea of him going. Just after he decided to ‘sleep on it’ the quarantine newsflash arrived. He is SO glad that he didn’t book a flight. He is an agency worker, so doesn’t get paid when he’s not working. He could afford to lose three week’s salary, but it would have turned out to be a very expensive visit.

We were going to have the same kind of holiday you mention anna, but not to our own villa. I would have sanitised al, surfaces upon arrival. But I’m not concerned about us, I’m concerned about my daughter who desperately needs a holiday.

I think the advice from Boris (although he ums and ahs a lot) is to holiday here. It is certainly the advice from Nicola in Scotland. We have clearly been told there is no guarantee that anywhere is always going to be quarantine free so why people are stressing about trying to go places abroad is hard to understand. There are many lovely places to go here. Although of course you could plan to go somewhere and get a local lockdown like Aberdeen of course. We are still in a pandemic and our numbers are fragile. I think we need to have more patience. Last year I booked holidays for this year and have had to cancel and won't be booking anything else until things are more certain.