UKC

We're driving to France next week for a skiing trip and would appreciate any update on the current situation/requirements as a lot has changed in the 18 months since we last drove there.

We've got NHS covid passes, plenty of spare on our passports, GHIC cards and a 'UK' car sticker. The French have dropped their requirement for pre departure testing but it would seem we need to sign a 'sworn statement' and fill in a 'passenger locator form'.

As far as I can tell the sworn statement is paper based. Do I just print one off and fill it in and who do I give it to? 

The passenger locator form appears to be online. When do I have to fill it in by? Does anyone check? Do I get anything to show I've done it?

Are there any other bureaucratic hurdles I've missed?

More generally is the process of checking in at Dover (we're going by ferry not the tunnel) pretty much as it always was or are covid and/or customs checks more onerous now? Do we have to declare we aren't taking any high risk phytosanitary products (like hermetically sealed chocolate bars) into Europe? Will we be strip searched for illicit packed lunches?

Ok I'm not being entirely serious but are things as laissez faire as they used to be at the dock or will I need to leave more time than usual?

Thanks in advance.

In reply to melocoton:

We used the tunnel two weekends ago, filled in all the forms online and took paper copies, nobody checked anything relating to Covid, or what food we were carrying in the camper.

In reply to Glug:

Was the sworn statement online as well then?

In reply to melocoton:

We drove out 4 weeks ago and came back 2 weeks ago. At the time we needed a pre-departure test (provided as we checked on for the ferry). Also vax passports and, as we were driving through the Netherlands to France (without stopping for anything other than fuel), we also needed a completed quarantine form. This isn't needed if you're entering France directly, I believe and its a formaility just to declare that you are exempt from having to quarantine if  fully vaccinated. I don't know if this is required any longer. We were asked at the UK port (Newcastle) if we had completed this, but they didn't want to see it - just a "yes" / "no" answer was enough.

Passenger locator form wasn't (isn't?) required for entry into France. You are, however, supposed to fill in a "Declaration of Honour" form for France stating that you are Covid free etc. We had this, but were never at any point asked for it. 

In reply to melocoton:

I read that over 18's need the booster jab if relying on NHS app for the pass vaccinal for ski lifts etc?

In reply to melocoton:

Passenger locator form is for re entry into UK. You can fill most in online 7 days before you enter if you wish. Has to be submitted not more than 48 hrs before entry. With the questions you’ve asked I would visit the UK Gov travel site - it’s very good.

Bon ski!

In reply to Darron:

Following this closely as we too set off for Chamonix in two weeks.

To add from what I've seen, it appears fabric masks don't cut it on French lifts (if they're being particularly hot on rules), so grab a pack of surgical ones and evenly distribute amongst your ski jacket pockets to avoid disappointment! 

In reply to Georgert:

Can't speak for anywhere other than where we were, but fabric masks were fine. Very, very few people wearing anything other than fabric masks. This was in Flaine and then La Grave. I just used my neck gaiter and this was fine everywhere.

Vax passports required for entry to some, but not all, outdoor seating areas. And before you could purchase any kind of lift ticket. Any one of 3 QR codes was sufficient - not every one of mine checked out properly, but if one failed, I always managed to get one of the others to work OK. 

In reply to melocoton:

Yes it was online, we took paper copies and uploaded a copy to the Eurotunnel website, the passenger locator form was the biggest faff for us, as we were driving to Austria and you have to fill in sections for every country you pass through, we had a laptop with us but I think it would be more awkward on a phone.

In reply to melocoton:

Thanks for the replies, I had to go away at the weekend and didn't have time to reply until now, so just a few points.

It appears that you don't need to do the passenger locator form for France if you're driving, only if flying https://app.euplf.eu/#/form

I've got the link to the UK passenger locator form which needs to be submitted within 3 days of returning. https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk

I can't find any link complete the French 'sworn statement' online. All links I can find open some sort of word document like this

https://www.poferries.com/en/coronavirus/travel-restrictions-for-france

If anybody did theirs online how did you do it?

Shouls I just print off the form and fill it in and show to someone if asked?

Thanks.

In reply to melocoton:

https://www.eurotunnel.com/Eurotunnel/files/3f/3f474b02-0e9f-4992-a3d8-4d49...
 

I don’t think anybody has ever been asked to show it ! 🙄

In reply to melocoton:

Do you not need international driving licence? 

In reply to ian caton:

No

In reply to ian caton:

There was talk of that when we first left the EU but it was dropped as a requirement.

In reply to Postmanpat:

That's just another link to some kind of word document again though. It's not an online form.

No, it seems unlikely, like a lot of pointless bureaucracy.

But whilst I don't suppose anyone ever gets stopped for not having their headlight beams adjusted or not display a 'GB' (now 'UK') sticker there's always the chance that if you got stopped for some other reason an arsey official might pull you up for it just to be awkward.

 

In reply to melocoton: just back from a weeks skiing , driving to Saint gervais via tunnel . Needed lateral flow tests with QR code ( got them from boots , uploaded pictures , got QR code almost straight away , silly nonsense at this stage ( IMHO ) glad they got rid of it . Did all the “paperwork “ through Eurotunnel website and this made check In easy . Mask wearing still being observed everywhere and by everyone . Not required on chair lifts but being policed in gondola and gondola lines . The only Piece of the jig saw that gave me problems was the passenger locator form to get back in to the uk . The website wouldn’t let me register as it wouldn’t recognise my mobile number ( just a normal uk one ) and therefore wouldn’t text me a code to register . I had several goes at this and couldn’t get it to work . I arrived at Eurotunnel to cone back without it done . Luckily it was early on Sunday ( yesterday ) morning as it was quiet . There was no way they were letting me without it despite me showing them screenshots of me trying and it not working . The guy at euro tunnel tried to do it on my phone and also couldn’t get it to work . Nor  could his boss . I suggested we talked to border force  but they seemed sure that was pointless . After about an hour of this I finally got a code pop up and could then complete the passenger locator on my phone which  took ages for me and the kids and had several nonsensical or odd bit me to it . My advice is to try to do this before you go . 
edit : had to show my covid pass ( qr code on my iPhone every time we went in anywhere to sit down, without fail and without fail they took a picture of it )

Also : I only got my head around all  of the hoop jumping thanks to  various threads on UKC . So thanks again all  

In reply to mike123:

Thanks for the lengthy reply and update on the current situation.

Still not sure where the sworn statement can be submitted online though!

I suppose I'll just print it off and show it in the unlikely event of being asked for it.

In reply to melocoton:

I don't think the sworn statement needs to be submitted, as such. You are just required to have completed and signed it and carry it on you.

The UK passenger locator form needs to be completed before returning to the UK (rather than within 3 days of returning, as stated above). You can only fully complete it 24 hours before returning, but can start it up to 3 days before - you'll get to a point where it'll prevent you going any further forward but can save it at that point. This is quite close to the end of the form and does make it a lot easier on the day of travel.

In reply to GraB:

Yes that's right, the sworn statement just needs to be printed out and signed and kept with you.

Mask wearing is changing in France, as of yesterday they are no longer required in places where you have to show a vaccine pass (restaurants, museums, cinemas etc) but are still required on public transport - so probably still needed on gondolas.

In reply to melocoton:

I have spent a fair bit of time recently in Chamonix and also in Verbier and a few places in Italy - pulling your buff over your mouth and nose, instead of a face mask, seemed to be acceptable and was what was being done by 90% of people on lifts / cafes etc and also to a lesser degree but still commonly in the town. Generally there is a lot more mask wearing going on and people running cafes, lifts, shops etc seem more likely to say something to people not wearing some sort of covering than in the UK. The NHS app (with your vaccine barcode in it) was accepted everywhere you need to show a vaccine pass - if you have an iphone, save your barcode to your apple wallet and you can open it with one click.

In reply to James FR:

I was skiing yesterday at Ax-Bonascre (Ariège) and the once respectful compliance with mask rules we have enjoyed for a long time seems now to have completely evaporated. I'm pretty sure my daughter and I were the only ones wearing masks, or even making any attempt to cover the face, during multiple ascents on two bubble lifts.

In reply to john arran:

The rules have recently changed (yesterday I think) - we no longer need to wear masks in areas where a 'passe sanitaire' is needed which in theory includes chair lifts, etc although I've yet to be asked for my pass at our local ski resort other than for the cafés, etc - the nearest was being asked if I had one, when I offered to get it out of my jacket pocket I was told not to bother but warned that the police had been checking an hour or so earlier.

In reply to Doug:

Yes, I appreciate that, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case for bubble lifts (télécabines), and this article seems to agree: https://www.ladepeche.fr/2022/02/09/montagne-le-port-du-masque-nest-plus-ob... The signs were still up in the lift housing but no enforcement was apparent.

The point is that the mood seems to have radically changed in the last month or so, and most people now seem to be in the 'Covid's over or no longer dangerous, so I don't need to bother' camp.

In reply to GraB:

Thanks, that's helpful to know.

Sorry, I phrased my post above badly. I meant within the 3 days before you return!

Again, that's useful info. Thanks.

In reply to melocoton: I’ve been trying to remember what I did with the sworn statement, I think I downloaded the proforma from the link on Eurotunnel and then uploaded as part of their check in procedure . I put printed copies of everything in an an envelope and put it  in the glove box . I was never asked for  any of them . My vaccination  pass  pops up on my iPhone  if I double click the button on the right . I have no idea how or why this happens but it proved to be very useful . If you be got an iPhone it would be well worth finding out how to get it to do this as I used it several times a day . 

In reply to mike123:

I haven't got an iphone and can't seem to make my covid pass appear rapidly on my phone. I've saved it offline so can access it anywhere but takes a few clicks, getting at it via the NHS app is a massive faff.

I've printed paper copies and think I'll just keep one in my pocket, almost certainly quicker to produce it that way.

In reply to melocoton:

I would just like to add that it is best to prepare to follow any rules as relying on 'they don't check very often' could leave you with a problem. My wife and I live in France, hold UK passports but also have our Carte de Sejour (permission to live in France) ID. At Eurotunnel yesterday, we were asked for this as our passports are stamped at each UK visit. We had them but could so easily have relied on travelling just with our UK passports and presumably would have been denied reentry into France.

In reply to Stairclimber

Thanks for that. I'm in the same situation, but sadly no wife now and aged.  I haven't been able to go back to UK since mid2019, but have the chance of a lift across late March with a Uk based climbing friend,  for a general get together, but will have to return on my own by Eurostar. Didn't realize my British passport would be stamped. In France I normally carry photos of essential docs on my Iphone. Do you take originals, or the card of all docs, including vaccination certificates.    I'm worried by all this as my eyesight is problematic and am beginning to think Id be better off  not going. Any advice please about avoiding hassle? Are there customs formalitities?

In reply to jcw:

I would say having printed documents with you in a clear envelope helps. Personally, I take a photocopy of my passport on holiday, in case I have to leave mine as a security deposit somewhere, or don't want to leave my passport at the bottom of a crag or in a parked car. Of course the original is shown at border controls.

I think it also helps to have documents and QR codes held as photos in each others phone 'galleries ' as fiddling around getting your phone to access stuff when under pressure at a control gate can be stressful to you and others behind you in a queue.

Certainly, getting your phone out in a ski queue is awkward, even when it isn't snowing.

In reply to Stairclimber:

Thanks. It isn't ski queues that worry me but frontier controls if I go to Uk.  I think your advice of having photocopies of original docs in a  transparent envelope makes sense rather than counting on my Iphone at  the British and French frontier makes sense.

In reply to melocoton:

I came home to France from the UK last night, this time with easyJet who I don't normally use so was surprised to see they have no system for uploading your docs to the airline. They simply badger you to remind you to take them with you.  

On the way out (to UK) the PLF was checked at the gate. I was one of the first on but we ended up taking off 30 minutes late so I can only imagine this didn't help speed up boarding  On the way back only the sworn statement was in theory needed but yet again this was never asked for at any point. 

I've occasionally flown into France (Lyon) where they've scanned everyone's vaccine certificate just after passport control. All in all though, travelling between the two countries is now far simpler than it has been at any point in the last two years. 

In reply to melocoton:

Just a quick update in case anyone is heading out to France soon.

We had to show our NHS covid pass to French customs at the ferry terminal. We used paper copies which was fine. We've eaten out once and had to show them there (used the NHS phone pass this time) which they scanned and was fine. Surprsingly, despite signs to the contrary, we weren't asked to show a covid pass to buy our ski lift passes.

Nobody has asked to see the sworn statement, probably because everyone has now realised it's completely pointless?

Almost everyone is still wearing masks in shops but almost nobody is wearing them on the ski uplift, not even in enclosed cable cars and telepheriques. Any sort of mask seems to do in shops, the previous requirement (as I understood it) for FFP2 masks has either been dropped or is being ignored.

Finally, the price of diesel seems to be more than in the UK now. We paid 145.9p for supermarket diesel before leaving home, the cheapest supermarket diesel we found in France (the next day) was 1.90 euros (about £1.58) and it was all well over 2 euros at services on the autoroute.

At the supermarket near where we're staying it was 1.90 euros when we arrived on Saturday, it went up to 1.93 on Monday and had leapt to 2.15 today (Wed), at the garage in the ski resort it's a whopping 2.40 euros (£1.99). Goodness knows what we'll be paying en route home.

Has it rocketed in price that much back in blighty? 

In reply to melocoton:

I was skiing in France 2 weeks ago, Chatel, part of the Portes du Soleil ski area.  Our experience was pretty much the same as yours except we DID have to show our Covid passes to buy ski passes.  
2 weeks earlier in Tignes I did NOT have to show Covid pass to buy a ski pass so maybe it is resort dependent. 

In reply to melocoton:

It sounds as if paper copies of vaccine certificates are more useful than a smartphone app?

We only have one smartphone between the two of us, and I was thinking we may need to buy another so each person has a phone with the French TousAntiCovid app running on it.

But from all reports this may be unnecessary.  Am I right?

In reply to BruceM:

I live in France & have never installed the phone app - I find it much easier just to have a printed copy in my wallet/jacket pocket etc. Has the advantage that there are no batteries & when it gets to battered I just print another copy from a scan of the original given to me by my GP after being vaccinated

In reply to Doug:

Thanks Doug.  That's good to know.  Yes, we can just download and print out a PDF copy from the NHS Scotland site.  Sounds much easy -- and cheaper -- than a smartphone.

In reply to melocoton:

€2.61 a litre for diesel in Germany today.

In reply to jimtitt:

We're low on heating oil and the price per litre is showing as 1,97€, up from 1,18€ I paid before winter. We're installing a wood pellet system later in the year but need to limp on for maybe another six months. 

Worse than that, the Fioulmarket website I use which aggregates suppliers is showing now deliveries available for the foreseeable future. 

I just picked my (diesel) car up from the mechanic and had to drop off the electric courtesy car I've been enjoying using all week so haven't had chance to look at fuel prices but I'm up in a mountain town so assuming they're going to be on the toppy end. 

In reply to yorkshireman:

Pellets have nearly doubled in the last 6 months, got to €355.77 per ton start of January from €195 ish through the summer. I'm burning more logs at the moment (I've both systems) as there's a bit of a local surplus due to lack of storage and I've plenty of barn space.

In reply to jimtitt:

That's as maybe but the chauffagiste we had in said you need two tonnes of pellets for every 1000L of oil you were using as a rule of thumb when sizing our silo needs, so still less than half the price. And more sustainable (the pellets in theory have their carbon replaced to a degree by managed forests) so can't wait to switch. Same for an electric car finally

In reply to yorkshireman:

I wish the switch to pellets was the answer, but I'm afraid I don't think it is. We have a pellet manufacturer close to where we live (North Scotland) which was built, using not a small amount of public money, on the premise that it would be producing largely from waste wood. Unfortunately this has not been the case for at least the last 10 years and all the prime construction grade timber has been going to the pellet plant. I understand that they are taking this in preference to the scrappy stuff as its a lot easier, more efficient and therefore cost effective to process. Personally I don't believe this is good or right...  rather its the law of unintended consequences. So for that reason alone I wouldn't put a pellet boiler in my house and made a conscious decision not to when extending / renovating 8 years ago.

In reply to jimtitt:

I paid €2.02 per litre this afternoon for E10 petrol at what's usually the cheapest garage near home in the Champsaur (France) - first time I've paid more than €2

In reply to Doug:

Just went for a run and passed my local Intermarché which is normally the cheapest within a 30 minute drive radius. Diesel at 2,22€

I think unleaded was 1,98€

In reply to yorkshireman:

My €2.02 was at Intermarche

In reply to BruceM:

I don't know if the paper version is actually more useful but the French police at border control in Dover were perfectly happy with it. I certainly wouldn't buy another smart phone.

It's also a lot quicker to pull a bit of paper out of your pocket than find the QR code on the NHS app.

If you are using the phone version I'd definitely save a copy of the QR code offline in case you lose your internet connection just when you need it. I read of some people being denied boarding on flights because they couldn't get online at the critical moment.

In reply to melocoton:

Well the local supermarket I mentioned above (Intermarche) which went up from 1.93 on Tuesday to 2.15 on Wednesday had gone up again this morning (Thursday) to 2.30.

Driving down the autoroute to get here I stuck to70mph instead of the usual 80-85ish to keep fuel use down and managed to get 750 miles out of a tank.

I think I might have to stick to 60 on the way home, see if I can squeeze 800 out of it.

In reply to melocoton:

We're setting off tonight. Filled up yesterday and on the way home watched the price creep from 152p to 167p! It's going to be a pricey drive back next week isn't it... 

In reply to Georgert:

The government in France are going to subsidize fuel by 0.15€ per litre from 1st April. I'm sure it's buying to do with the April election. 

Funnily enough the cheapest fuel here (casual viewing not exhaustive searching) is on the Total garage and not the supermarkets. 

Managed to get a heating oil order for Wednesday but they're limiting orders to 500L (I normally order around 2000). Should have a new heating system by the summer and in the process of putting in an order for a Skoda Enyaq. 6 months too late but better than nothing. 

In reply to yorkshireman:

At the service stations between Toulouse and Narbonne last night, the prices of diesel ranged from 1.95 to 2.35 a litre!!! Looking forward to the subsidy kicking-in.

Some family flew-in last night - no questions asked about covid at all, just a passport stamp and a "welcome to France".

In reply to melocoton:

I was in Leroy-Merlin yesterday. I thought there's something strange going on here. Then it clicked and I realised that non of the staff and only about 1 in 10 customers were wearing masks. 

Chucked mine in the bin on the way out - yay!

E

In reply to Enty:

Just for the benefit of anyone reading this thread but not the news, UK Gov have now removed all covid related rules about travel to the UK so you no longer need to do a passenger locator form.

In reply to Enty:

They're still needed on public transport though. Don't bin them all just yet!

In reply to steve taylor:

Still need them for hospitals, etc as well. This seems a good summary of whats now needed

https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2022/03/14/covid-19-la-france-leve-l...

In reply to Enty:

H got told in the supermarket yesterday that she shouldn't be wearing a mask now. She replied 'maybe, but I've got covid...' 

In reply to jon:

Good answer!

E