Ian125 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 My wife & I are hoping to visit France later this month. As things stand at present we require a lateral flow test before departing from France and a PCR test after arriving back. I would be very interested to receive any advice or tips about where to get lateral flow tests in France & the sort of proof of negative test results that is acceptable to the UK authorities. I would also like to hear recommendations (or otherwise!) of test providers approved by the UK Government for the day 2 PCR test. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Getting a COVID-19 test in France Tests used to be free of charge in France (even for UK residents), but - from July 7 2021 - foreign tourists have had to pay. The cost should be €49 for PCR tests and €29 for antigen tests, and in this recent forum thread (now outdated somewhat) https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Quarantine-2-8-day-tests-and-Day-5-Test-for-release/58622/ the comment " (Incidentally we paid €25 each for negative Lateral Flow Tests in a pharmacy in France before our return.)” was made. This link also refers to the cost of tests https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/coronavirus-covid-19 COVID-19 screening locations ("Lieux de dépistage”) can be identified via this (French language) website https://www.sante.fr/cf/centres-depistage-covid/departement-22-cotes-d'armor.html Selection is by department, test type and type of screening centre. (GGOGLE-translate version below.) https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://www.sante.fr/cf/centres-depistage-covid/departement-22-cotes-d%27armor.html&prev=search&pto=aue (I can’t help with the UK’s Day 2 PCR test, but I’d also be interested in feedback about that.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdriver Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Many pharmacies in decent sized French towns offer Lateral Flow Tests. (LFT) We walked in and booked the test a few days before we required it, turned up at the right time, ie within 72 hrs of our departure, were given the Lateral Flow Test, and got our results an hour later.( €25 Euros each) , along with a signed, and stamped test certificate. NB The UK government have a set of technical requirements as to the specificity of the PCR or LFT tests. It meant nothing to me but when I asked at the French pharmacy if their test met these requriements they dug out some documentation that provided the information and let me photo the relevant page in case anyone queried the validity or specificity of the test I had taken. I didn't need it in the event but I felt more comfortable having it to hand. My wife's result was sent to her phone by text with a link to her results in PDF form on French government website. You can save the PDF and then upload it to whatever systems - UK government, Eurotunnel etc that require a digital copy. In my case I inadvertently gave the pharmacy the wrong mobile number, or they mis-keyed it by one digit. I spotted it was erroneous because it was printed on the digital certificate. However once it is on the certificate you cannot change it; right or wrong. As a result I never got the link to the PDF. But I did have the print copy of the test result. So I photo'd it and uploaded it, rather than the PDF, and that was accepted by the Eurotunnel system. It took a couple of attempts because I had trouble getting a good clear shot. In this context its worth making sure you have access to tools that can compress files to suitable sized Jpegs or PDF's. I think the Eurotunnel system wants something less than 4 mbytes but I am not absolutely sure about that. They certainly recommend using your phone for this transaction. I used https://smallpdf.com/merge-pdf/ to do this - I think I set up an annual subscription because its an easier to use than some of the free file compression tools If you are travelling by Eurotunnel then you load the the necessary API (advanced Passenger Information) and health declarations onto the Eurotunnel site. I imagine the process will be similar for other carriers. Eurotunnel say on their website: "At UK border controls you will need to present an email or text message certificate in English, French or Spanish issued by the testing facility" If you have that all uploaded in advance and your Api's are loaded complete and up to date and they have verified that it meets all their requirements, then the check in operator at the Eurotunnel can see this on their system and pretty much wave you through. And you can board directly subject to getting through UK and French Border control at Calais as usual. You also need to fill the UK Gov Passenger locator. This is most important because you won't be able to board any transport to get you back to the UK without it. Plus there are fines and other penalties if it is not completed properly and accurately. https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk The requirements are outlined there. It's worth setting up an account in advance. In any event when we got to Calais Eurotunnel, our docs were all pre-loaded onto their systems, so we went straight through, and neither French not UK Border controls presented a problem. More useful information - if you are travelling by Eurotunnel is here: https://help.eurotunnel.com/hc/en-gb/categories/201059245-Pre-travel-requirements Basically you need to get your Advance Passenger information pre-loaded, and then your health declarations. I imagine that the process is similar for any other form of cross border travel. Remember to keep all the paper copies. They will probably get you through, albeit with quite a bit more hassle, if you cannot for some reason do all the online submissions. It will just take longer. As far as testing on the UK went, I am afraid I cannot recommend Boots. We had to quarantine with Day 2 and Day 8 tests ( I kopek this is no longer a requirement) plus we elected to pay for Day 5 early release. The day 2 test result arrived after about 30 hrs on day 3. The day 5 test results arrived on day 9! The day 8 tests on day 10 (in my case - and day 11 in my wife's case) However I have no basis for making any other recommendations. There are smaller outfits that guarantee 24hr delivery but in Oxford anyway they cost double what Boots charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian125 Posted August 6, 2021 Author Share Posted August 6, 2021 Thank you both very much for your answers which are extremely helpful. We will be coming back by ferry, probably Caen to Portsmouth and I hope that printed documents will suffice. Just hope that Government do not mess things up even more! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 slowdriver - 2021-08-05 10:01 PM Many pharmacies in decent sized French towns offer Lateral Flow Tests. (LFT) We walked in and booked the test a few days before we required it, turned up at the right time, ie within 72 hrs of our departure, were given the Lateral Flow Test, and got our results an hour later.( €25 Euros each) , along with a signed, and stamped test certificate. Thanks for taking the time to post that better than posting out of date links to out of date posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Ian125 You might try asking about this via the Brittany Ferries Enthusiasts forum https://bfenthusiasts.com/bfe/ I can understand Eurotunnel having a system in place to simplify matters for travellers returning from France to the UK, but I'm not sure whether ferry companies will have anything similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdriver Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Ian125 - 2021-08-06 10:44 AM Thank you both very much for your answers which are extremely helpful. We will be coming back by ferry, probably Caen to Portsmouth and I hope that printed documents will suffice. Just hope that Government do not mess things up even more! Ian Printed Covid test result certificates may be a substitute that means you don't need to upload the Lateral Flow or PCR test onto a Eurotunnel or similar website site within 72 hrs of your departure from France. However you will have to complete the UK Government Passenger Locator form online in order to be able to board your ferry as far as I know. I am not aware of any printed document work-around to this process. So its best to familiarise yourself with that process before you even set out on the trip. It's actually very straight forward, once you have read and absorbed the questions. That's one reason why you should set up an account on the UK government Passenger Locator form page before you depart. That way you're not scrabbling around trying to upload a load of documents, while also trying to make a late dash to the ferry etc. We did ours 24 hrs before our Eurotunnel departure from a campsite a few hours south of Calais. You need to make sure that they either have a decent wifi signal or you have a good 3g or 4g phone signal and can pair your phone to your device (if you're not actually doing it on the phone) We had a substantial drink once we had ticked all the boxes. Got an early night and had a trouble free run up to Calais the next day. The form is here: https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk I appreciate that many people are quite happy doing this stuff on a phone. Personally I prefer a decent sized screen and a keyboard, so I either take an Ipad or even better my laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Brittany Ferries (BF) provides coronavirus travel information/FAQs here https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/information/coronavirus/faqs It’s been reported (!!) that bookings for ferry crossings between the UK and Europe have risen by over 70% as COVID travel rules are relaxed for fully-vaccinated passengers and BF are clearly bullish about holiday-makers choosing to visit France this month. https://brittanyferriesnewsroom.com/sack-the-staycation-and-ferry-to-france-instead/ We have a 10-day France trip with the motorhome booked with BF for early September 2021 (Portsmouth-Caen return). The ticket was originally issued on 5 June 2020 for a September 6-17 2020 trip and has now been renewed 6 times. Ian has not said how long he plans to stay in France, but I shall be very interested in how he gets on regarding the bureaucracy and logistics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamRienza Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Thank you Derek, for the Brittany Ferries link. Very helpful. I particularly liked the sub link to Sante.fr which shows in map form the name, address, and phone number of pharmacies which can do the per test. https://www.sante.fr/cf/carte-depistage-covid.html Davy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian125 Posted August 7, 2021 Author Share Posted August 7, 2021 Once again very many thanks for your responses, they are very useful. I will set up accounts for our return. For those of you who may be considering returning via Caen we have spoken to a pharmacist at Pharmacia de la Plage, Merville Franceville Plage who offer a walk in lateral flow test service for about 30 Euros with result provided either as a certificate or text with link. The pharmacist that my wife spoke to speaks excellent English. Pharmacie de la Plage is within walking distance of Camping le Point du Jour (ACSI 1126) which is about 10 miles from the ferry terminal. We are planning to go to France towards the end of this month to avoid the French school holidays and will just see how things go and what rules Shapps invents so we don't really have a return date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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