France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

Just boarded the WBY. Boarding was smooth (not a guard in sight), they were not really interested in the sworn declarations. Doesn’t seem quite as full as before, but by no means empty. Lady Gregory restaurant is back open again - still expensive.

Good news from my campsite. The health pass will be checked on the way in once and then free to use the pool and restaurant for the duration of our stay and not have to do continuous pcr/antigen tests

We're heading over on July 31st. At this stage one of us has received our vaccine cert, but the other hasn't yet (despite being fully vaccinated since March).

We'll be chasing up the other cert, but based on media reports I'm not feeling confident about getting it.

This will mean one of us travelling with just the HSE paper card that they gave you after getting the jabs.

Anyone in similar position? What are you planning to do?

I'm less worried about getting into France with it. More worried about campsite, restaurants, attractions etc. not accepting it.

English camper vans? Strange. Wonder were they NI?

Expensive way to avoid quarantine. I wouldn't go to all that unless they are retired. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Does anyone know a good place in Cherbourg to pull in after driving off the ferry? 2 cars travelling together, 1 nervous driver. The cars will not be together on the ferry so will need to meet up in Cherbourg. I'm guessing there is nowhere suitable to pull in before customs so probably need to leave the terminal?

When we got off on Friday just before you enter the lanes to security there is a large area to your left. A few lorries were stopped there

Thank you - that's really helpful

Haha I remember a few years back we had to stop here and when we opened the car door whatever happened, a big bag of aptimul just burst on the ground. We shat ourselves but french customs must be well used to it as they didn’t come running after us. For some reason we thought we were drug mules but it gave us a good laugh (once we got up the hill 😂)

Theres lots of space around an unmanned petrol station which on your left as you exit the ferry area. I have no idea what diesel is costing in Ireland but I paid 1.39 yesterday in a supermarket.

if you are feeling a bit nervous driving , use the ring road around Cherbourg.

Im just back from a few days along the French side of the Spanish border and Landes department. I stayed in 7 campsites and no-one asked me for my Corona cert.

Was it a test lab or medical screening centre that you booked ? There are plenty of village screening centres around, some that don't need require appointment ( link to one near us https://www.bilancoronavirus.fr/depistage/vasles-79340/laboratoire-cabinet-infirmier ) but I'm not sure if they are doing pcr testing for travel reasons. The 72 hour timing is a bit of a challenge for us as return sailing is mon 23rd and we will be driving most of that day. I think we need to have it done for our 16yo on Sat afternoon.

Just search under "PCR test Cherbourg" or where ever you are near. I used doctolib.fr and you get the results online early the next morning. Looking at their site in Cherbourg theres plenty of available slots. You can take a chance an drive in also.

Cruising on board WB Yeats now. Fairly full (60%) with plenty of trucks and vans. Some tourists although nowhere near normal levels. At check-in IF guy asked if we had Covid certs / tests etc and we said we had. He told us that the French are checking 1 in 4 cars so we should get lucky and not have any hassle.

We got our NI covid vaccine certs this morning which wasn’t ideal but better late than never.

I will update on french customs once we get settled after a day of driving down to the Vendee.

We have stayed in Sylvamar in Labenne previously but I have been eyeing up Camping Capfun Le Bougidau as a potential for next year. Don't suppose that featured in your travels this year and, if it did, any opinions on it either way? Cheers

No need to be worried about campsite or attractions etc. I've been in Bordeaux since July 11th (WBY was at about 10% capacity on the sailing over) and everything is open and more or less same rules as at home i.e. socially distance in queues and wear a mask indoors. No restrictions on indoor dining or drinking, no requirement to show proof of vaccination or negative PCR test (other than boarding the WBY and at Cherbourg) and no reduction in capacity / access to swimming pool or entertainment area's etc. It's basically the same as ever but with the universal Covid precautions of mask wearing indoors and social distancing in queue's we are all living with at home.

BTW, when looking for a PCR test for older kids or those without DCC's when returning home if you do a Google search you'll be bombarded with ton's of sites which purport to offer either testing or info on testing but all they are doing is harvesting your contact details for spamming at a later stage.

The official site to book PCR testing is https://www.doctolib.fr. You just need to enter your location (or allow the site to identify your location) and the nearest testing sites will be listed with their availability in diary format for the coming week etc. You click on a time and location you want (make sure it's within 72 hours OF ARRIVAL in Ireland), follow the appointment setup process (auto Google Translate using Chrome browser will be your friend) and bob's your uncle your PCR test is booked. One of my older kids had to fly back so I've been through the process and it was smooth. He turned up at the test centre with his passport, they tested him entered his email and mobile phone number and 24 hours later he got an SMS with a link to a downloadable cert confirming he was negative. They didn't charge him at all either which I think they're supposed to if you're not a French citizen but they just couldn't be bothered.

We've been onsite quite a long way down the south west coast near Mimizan for almost 3 weeks and haven't seen another Irish person or an Irish car either onsite or on any of our jaunting around and only one UK reg car. The Irish and English (normally about 20% of the site capacity according to one of the staff here) have all been replaced by "staycationing" French and Dutch and Germans who normally fly to Spain etc but are now driving overland for holidays due to Covid.