Plymouth to Porto

[ardcarp]

Brittany Ferries may be opening this route to 'Green' Portugal. Presumably negative tests will be required.

[cloughie]

Brittany Ferries may be opening this route to 'Green' Portugal. Presumably negative tests will be required.

With a 30 hour journey there’s a built in mini-cruise each way.

[kernelbogey]

Useful data, Ardie!

Although I play with various scenarios - Italy, Greece - I'm no more than 50% certain that I shall choose to go to 'continental Europe', as I suppose we must now call it, this summer.

Prices for air travel shoot up as soon as a country goes on the green list, I'm told. Right now I could book to fly to northern Italy and back, in June or July, for around £100. I'm tempted to take a punt and book, knowing that I might lose the money if I get cold feet (i.e. nasty Covid variants detected in Italy or UK).

[oddoneout]

I see that the Falklands and St Helena are on the green list so that's my holidays sorted ...

[ardcarp]

Falklands? Brrrrr

[cloughie]

I see that the Falklands and St Helena are on the green list so that's my holidays sorted ...

Well it is 200 years since Napoleon died!

[kernelbogey]

A friend told me last night that his recent trip to Netherlands to meet with his partner cost him £530 in Covid tests.

[oddoneout]

A friend told me last night that his recent trip to Netherlands to meet with his partner cost him £530 in Covid tests.

The need for "authentication " presumably being much of that? A DIY free test, such as we are being urged to do doesn't really suffice for such purposes.

[kernelbogey]

The need for "authentication " presumably being much of that? A DIY free test, such as we are being urged to do doesn't really suffice for such purposes.

I didn't get the detail, but clearly you have to be determined to travel to surmount these hurdles.

[oddoneout]

I didn't get the detail, but clearly you have to be determined to travel to surmount these hurdles.

There are various bits of paperwork relating to such a visit it would seem which also presumably add to the cost - relationship proof, possibly short-term visa etc.

[ardcarp]

I heard on the news that Portugal is putting the brakes on tourism for a bit longer.

[HighlandDougie]

I'm glad to have been back now chez moi en France for a week but, as pointed out in earlier posts, the costs in getting to France plus the hassle are not to be underestimated. Had I not had a pressing rendezvous with the Préfecture in Nice yesterday to exchange my carte de séjour permanent for the post-Brexit version, I might have stayed in Scotland. The card won't quite have the equivalent of "unclean" on it but one certainly knows that one might be regarded with a certain distrust (or, this being France, distaste). PCR test pre-departure from Edinburgh cost £150, test in France today 7 days after supposed "self isolation" another £40. I suspect that the GP who administered the test and who had referred to Boris Johnson earlier ("that fat f**k" as I called him) took great delight in jamming the bloody swab as painfully as possible up my left nostril.

The fact that the border police in Nice Airport last Friday evening - overwhelmed by the almost simultaneous arrival of a large number of slightly drunk 50+ alpha-males channeling their 10 year old selves (but maybe that was just on the plane) from London and from Munich, all going to Monaco for the Grand Prix - simply waved me through meant that today's test was probably completely pointless ... well, hey, good to be back in France. I'm not planning a return to the UK anytime soon as the cost of doing so is really quite steep.

So, staycations in Scarborough, Largs or Porthcawl - much recommended to all!

[ardcarp]

I'm jealous, HD. We usually spend about 5 weeks in Brittany each Summer en bateau. The Royal Yachting Association is in a complete muddle about what is or is not allowed...not their fault; they just have no information to pass on. Or should I say they have contradictory information. The only firm bit of info I have is that if you leave your boat in the EU for more than 3 months, you have to pay VAT on its value, whether you've paid it before or not. That just sound outrageous to me.

I still have not heard of one single advantage in our leaving the EU.

[cloughie]

I'm glad to have been back now chez moi en France for a week but, as pointed out in earlier posts, the costs in getting to France plus the hassle are not to be underestimated. Had I not had a pressing rendezvous with the Préfecture in Nice yesterday to exchange my carte de séjour permanent for the post-Brexit version, I might have stayed in Scotland. The card won't quite have the equivalent of "unclean" on it but one certainly knows that one might be regarded with a certain distrust (or, this being France, distaste). PCR test pre-departure from Edinburgh cost £150, test in France today 7 days after supposed "self isolation" another £40. I suspect that the GP who administered the test and who had referred to Boris Johnson earlier ("that fat f**k" as I called him) took great delight in jamming the bloody swab as painfully as possible up my left nostril.

The fact that the border police in Nice Airport last Friday evening - overwhelmed by the almost simultaneous arrival of a large number of slightly drunk 50+ alpha-males channeling their 10 year old selves (but maybe that was just on the plane) from London and from Munich, all going to Monaco for the Grand Prix - simply waved me through meant that today's test was probably completely pointless ... well, hey, good to be back in France. I'm not planning a return to the UK anytime soon as the cost of doing so is really quite steep.

So, staycations in Scarborough, Largs or Porthcawl - much recommended to all!

Much as I see the desirability of being in rural Southern France, I’m settling for home staycation away from trouble - having said that the County seems set for a large number of holiday makers over the Summer once we have recovered from the disruption by 3 days of G7. It’s not however 3 days as disturbance and preparation for this makes it 3 weeks, local road closures, security checks and diversions. Fortunately we are far enough away though equidistance from the two epicentres Falmouth, where the World’s press and media will be and Carbis Bay where it is all happening. Also hoping that our record low of 4/100000 covid cases will not be increased significantly - what are the French rates like and how are jabs progressing there?
Finally is fnac still selling cds in Nice?

[HighlandDougie]

Finally is fnac still selling cds in Nice?

En bref, mais oui! I was in FNAC on Monday buying a new phone so CDs still waiting for you, Cloughie. The Mayor of Nice (and the Metropolitan area which covers large parts of the Alpes-Maritimes) is really pushing vaccinations - so the proportion of people who have had at least one jab is OK, if not up to UK levels. The A-M has just gone "green" in terms of Covid which is very good as it was one of the worst areas in France for the "taux d'incidence" a couple of months ago. There is more resistance to "jabs" in France than in the UK but once people realise that unvaccinated=no admittance/no getting on a plane, that might change. Deepest sympathies about G7, BTW. I remember when it was held in Edinburgh. Un cauchemar!