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

It is still the law in France that over 18s have to have had a booster within 9 months of entering France and 12 to 17 year olds have to have had the initial vaccine without a 9 month limit. We weren't asked for them when entering this week but Brittany Ferries did send out a text 48 hours before we travelled stating that these documents were required (or you could get tested in advance instead).

Sure, you can gamble that you won't be asked, but personally I wouldn't be risking some very costly holiday disruption by doing so.

Detailed French entry requirements for those travelling from Ireland

All travellers arriving by air must complete the EU-PLF form. Passengers arriving by sea or land are not required to complete this form. 

The remaining requirements for travel to France from Ireland depend on your vaccination/recovery status.

If you are vaccinated, you must present proof of complete vaccination.

For the purposes of international travel to France, the French government defines complete vaccination as:

• 7 days after the second injection of an EMA-approved two-dose vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria/Covishield);
• 4 weeks after the injection of a single-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson);
• 7 days after the injection of a single dose of any of these vaccines for persons who have previously had COVID-19; and
• For persons aged 18 years or older, a booster dose of an mRNA vaccine no later than nine months after receiving the last mandatory dose.
• A booster dose is not required for children aged 12-17 if they have completed the primary vaccination schedule. 

If you are recovered, you must present a certificate of recovery dated more than 11 days and less than 6 months prior to the date of arrival (a certificate of recovery is a document issued to persons who have contracted COVID-19, upon presentation of a positive RT-PCR or antigenic test).

If you are unvaccinated, you must present a negative RT-PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to your departure or an antigen test taken no more than 48 hours before departure.

If you are unvaccinated and relying on an antigen test, please note that only tests that can detect the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 N protein will be valid. You should confirm this with your test provider.

If you do not demonstrate that you meet the above requirements, you may be denied boarding.

Children under the age of 12 are exempt from these requirements.

You generally get off quickly, and get to board early. I have been slow getting off with it a few times though.

Just flew in yesterday. Filled out the PLF and have all the vaccines, but no one has asked for them either digitally or in person. We flew with Swiss Air via Zurich and there hasn't been one single mention of COVID or any evidence of it on our travels.

C'est la vie!

Travelled on Wed from Cork with Brittany Ferries and the lad in the kiosk had a quick scan of passports and Covid certs etc and said that they would be more scrutinized in Roscoff which they were by Immigration/Police. No checks anywhere after that but I heard today that Brittany Ferries are making it a requirement for masks to be worn again on their ships so I guess the level has been raised again.

Probably got out just in time before anymore restrictions are raised again on entry.

Most French campsites don't open bookings until after Halloween or even January.

But if you are staying there this summer you can reserve in many places

We took the WB Yeats last Saturday to Cherbourg and had speedy exit. About 10 cars disembarked ahead of us and we were through passport checks very quickly. It was well worth it in my opinion. We had a 4.5hr drive ahead of us and still managed to get to the campsite at a reasonable time and get settled

Irish Ferries usually open booking for the following summer season in late September or early October.

In France the motorway services are owned by the motorway companies but operated by the various retailers who tender for the operating rights. What services they offer are largely determined by what the MW company wants. Some Aire’s will have a car wash and some won’t - historically the MW sites weren’t as well served by car washes as offline sites.

Based on how profitable car-washes are for service station operators - whenever you leave the MWs on day 1 you’ll come across one quickly enough

When we travelled before Christmas, our car was on deck & covered in salt when we arrived. We had put a couple of litre bottles of water in the boot to rinse off the mirrors & front & rear screens before disembarking.

If anyone is coming back from France at the end of Jul or early Aug and has a French SIM, I'd be very grateful if they might pass it on.

In Yelloh Sylvamar at the moment and very happy with our pitch.

This site has pitches with their own private toilet/shower/fridge/kitchen sink block.

For us tenters, this is sheer luxury :) and it will be very hard to go back to shared facilities in the common block after this.

Does anyone know of other campsites in France that also has this facility on certain pitches?

https://www.camping-sylvamar.com/en/accommodation/10038.html#content

High-viz, warning triangle, headlights adjusted, crit air sticker if planning to visit an urban center, atmb tag to make life easier at the peages.

Although we have the breathalyser, it's the wrong spec but I'm not loosing any sleep over it.