Pauline
Forums Admin
Sunday August 30
Cold and wet but the weather is forecast to improve.
We made it to Switzerland! We live in the UK and drove across France to Switzerland. We didn’t do long driving days, but did about 5 hours a day.
Wednesday it took us 4 hours to get from Dorset to the tunnel entrance in Folkestone. There were very few cars in the Eurotunnel area. Last year at this time it was packed and we waited in long lines to get on the train. We got the 3:20pm train, arriving in France at 5pm (it is one hour later there). We drove for another hour to Abbeville. On past trips we have stayed in Arras or Amiens but because of COVID we stayed in small towns on this trip.
France is not on the UK safe list, meaning you have to quarantine if you return to the UK after being in France during the previous 14 days. Since we are spending 3 weeks in Switzerland this 2 night stay in France will not cause us to have to quarantine. We were worried that France would retaliate and not allow Brits in (they announced they would do this a few days before we left), but they haven’t done this yet. There was no problem entering France. The border control in Folkestone just waved us through. At the France end of the tunnel there is no border control.
I was so anxious about these COVID rules that I forgot to be anxious about driving our UK car in France until I was on the train. But there was no problem. I drove off the train, kept to the right, and adapted.
Abbeville is a cute town on the River Somme. We did a walk around town before dinner. Most tourists come here to see the WWI sites. We stayed at the Mercure hotel (a chain) which was nothing special but is in the town center. There were a lot of other people staying there but the town center wasn’t very busy.
Another COVID precaution was avoiding restaurants. We bought a cooler that plugs into the car (we have a 12V plug in the trunk) and I made two dinners and three lunches for the trip! This worked well.
On Thursday we avoided the Mercure breakfast buffet (which is usually bad, and who is having buffets now!) and went a cafe and sat outside. Croissants!
In France you have to wear a mask in hotels, shops and restaurants. We wore masks and so did everyone else. Not on the streets though.
Since we may not stop in France on return (we may “transit” France, drive across without stopping, to avoid quarantine), we went to a large natural foods shop in Abbeville and stocked up on the French products which we try to get every year (French sea salt, organic French olive oil, some toothpaste that we like). France has very good natural foods shops - large, with a great selection - and they are everywhere.
We drove about 5 hours to Langres, all on autoroute. Very boring but we listened to Jeeves and Wooster radio plays so the time passed easily. We stopped and had a fun picnic lunch. At that stop I talked to a Brit parked beside us and he said Switzerland had announced they were closing their border to France soon. Now I wished we had driven through to Switzerland on the second day as we usually do.
We’ve never been to Langres but I read about it in the France magazine and it sounded interesting. A fortified medieval town and you can walk the ramparts. I wanted to stay in Troyes or Dijon but we decided they were too large. Langres is small, population 7,000, and I figured it would be empty. Wrong, it is a popular destination and was packed with visitors.
Langres sits up on a hill and the walls are magnificent as you drive up to it. Our hotel was in the historic center and we had to drive a few blocks on narrow streets to get to it. I had booked this hotel, and then cancelled 2 days before thinking they were going to close France to Brits and I didn’t want to lose my money, then booked it again from Abbeville. So in all this confusion I didn’t figure out the parking and we drove around a full parking lot, then back around town only to realise that they open up gates and you park in a small but well organised area in front of the hotel.
This hotel, Hotel des Remparts, was very interesting. It is a small hotel right on the ramparts and run by a charming couple from Cuba and the US. It has about 6 rooms. We had a gorgeous room looking out over the valley.
We walked around the ramparts (2 miles). There were people out but most of them distanced (not all). It was sunny and hot so we went into a small Carrefour to get me some lemonade even though we had decided to avoid shops (you let things slip on vacation). It was chaotic in the shop and when we were checking out they checked Steve’s backpack as if we might be shoplifters! The lemonade was not worth this. I don’t go into supermarkets at home, instead I have everything delivered.
We had breakfast in the hotel the next morning and the tables were well distanced.
It was overcast and raining. I had planned a drive on rural roads and the over the mountains into Switzerland but this was a mistake. The French Autoroute is boring but is easy to drive and there are rest areas frequently (called aires) and the ones that say picnic area only always have restrooms which means you can avoid the crowded rest area with restaurants. After Steve drove for 2 hours in a torrential downpour I changed our route and we were on autoroute for the rest of the way.
The rain eased as we turned off the autoroute to drive into the mountains and to Lenk. We arrived at 5pm and checked in. This is our 7th year in a row staying here, the 5th year in the same apartment right in the town center. Lenk is small, population 2,500, but is beautiful and has great hiking. It was very busy here this summer because the Swiss vacationed at home, as did the Brits who crowded out our area in Dorset, but their holidays are over and the town is quiet. Maybe it will be busier when the weather improves.
It rained all day Saturday and we got out for a short walk. The same on Sunday, but it was colder (42F), the rain was heavier and there was snow on the mountains.
I walked out in the rain this morning for fresh bread and gipfels (Swiss croissants) and got soaked. The one bakery that was open was busy but everyone lines up and spreads out. Masks are only required here on public transportation but everyone socially distances in the shops and on the street. We went into the supermarket on Friday and it wasn’t busy and everyone kept their distance. As usual, everyone is very friendly here. This morning in the bakery everyone in line greeted each other.
When we left home Switzerland was on the safe list, however it was removed a few days later. This will impact our return plans. We can take our time through France and we will have to quarantine unless we go to Italy (a safe country, but for how long?), spend 14 days there then go home via Austria (safe, I think) and Germany (safe), then transit France (not safe). But no need to think about this now because with the UK everything can change at any time. These are not usual travel conditions but I am happy that we made the trip.
We spent the first night in Abbeville, an hours drive from the tunnel.
We spent the second night in Langres, a small walled town north of Dijon.
Hotel des Remparts.
View from our room.
We arrived in Lenk, in the rain on Friday afternoon. It rained all day Saturday and Sunday. Sunday was cold, 42F, and when the rain stopped and the cloud lifted we saw snow on the mountains.
Cold and wet but the weather is forecast to improve.
We made it to Switzerland! We live in the UK and drove across France to Switzerland. We didn’t do long driving days, but did about 5 hours a day.
Wednesday it took us 4 hours to get from Dorset to the tunnel entrance in Folkestone. There were very few cars in the Eurotunnel area. Last year at this time it was packed and we waited in long lines to get on the train. We got the 3:20pm train, arriving in France at 5pm (it is one hour later there). We drove for another hour to Abbeville. On past trips we have stayed in Arras or Amiens but because of COVID we stayed in small towns on this trip.
France is not on the UK safe list, meaning you have to quarantine if you return to the UK after being in France during the previous 14 days. Since we are spending 3 weeks in Switzerland this 2 night stay in France will not cause us to have to quarantine. We were worried that France would retaliate and not allow Brits in (they announced they would do this a few days before we left), but they haven’t done this yet. There was no problem entering France. The border control in Folkestone just waved us through. At the France end of the tunnel there is no border control.
I was so anxious about these COVID rules that I forgot to be anxious about driving our UK car in France until I was on the train. But there was no problem. I drove off the train, kept to the right, and adapted.
Abbeville is a cute town on the River Somme. We did a walk around town before dinner. Most tourists come here to see the WWI sites. We stayed at the Mercure hotel (a chain) which was nothing special but is in the town center. There were a lot of other people staying there but the town center wasn’t very busy.
Another COVID precaution was avoiding restaurants. We bought a cooler that plugs into the car (we have a 12V plug in the trunk) and I made two dinners and three lunches for the trip! This worked well.
On Thursday we avoided the Mercure breakfast buffet (which is usually bad, and who is having buffets now!) and went a cafe and sat outside. Croissants!
In France you have to wear a mask in hotels, shops and restaurants. We wore masks and so did everyone else. Not on the streets though.
Since we may not stop in France on return (we may “transit” France, drive across without stopping, to avoid quarantine), we went to a large natural foods shop in Abbeville and stocked up on the French products which we try to get every year (French sea salt, organic French olive oil, some toothpaste that we like). France has very good natural foods shops - large, with a great selection - and they are everywhere.
We drove about 5 hours to Langres, all on autoroute. Very boring but we listened to Jeeves and Wooster radio plays so the time passed easily. We stopped and had a fun picnic lunch. At that stop I talked to a Brit parked beside us and he said Switzerland had announced they were closing their border to France soon. Now I wished we had driven through to Switzerland on the second day as we usually do.
We’ve never been to Langres but I read about it in the France magazine and it sounded interesting. A fortified medieval town and you can walk the ramparts. I wanted to stay in Troyes or Dijon but we decided they were too large. Langres is small, population 7,000, and I figured it would be empty. Wrong, it is a popular destination and was packed with visitors.
Langres sits up on a hill and the walls are magnificent as you drive up to it. Our hotel was in the historic center and we had to drive a few blocks on narrow streets to get to it. I had booked this hotel, and then cancelled 2 days before thinking they were going to close France to Brits and I didn’t want to lose my money, then booked it again from Abbeville. So in all this confusion I didn’t figure out the parking and we drove around a full parking lot, then back around town only to realise that they open up gates and you park in a small but well organised area in front of the hotel.
This hotel, Hotel des Remparts, was very interesting. It is a small hotel right on the ramparts and run by a charming couple from Cuba and the US. It has about 6 rooms. We had a gorgeous room looking out over the valley.
We walked around the ramparts (2 miles). There were people out but most of them distanced (not all). It was sunny and hot so we went into a small Carrefour to get me some lemonade even though we had decided to avoid shops (you let things slip on vacation). It was chaotic in the shop and when we were checking out they checked Steve’s backpack as if we might be shoplifters! The lemonade was not worth this. I don’t go into supermarkets at home, instead I have everything delivered.
We had breakfast in the hotel the next morning and the tables were well distanced.
It was overcast and raining. I had planned a drive on rural roads and the over the mountains into Switzerland but this was a mistake. The French Autoroute is boring but is easy to drive and there are rest areas frequently (called aires) and the ones that say picnic area only always have restrooms which means you can avoid the crowded rest area with restaurants. After Steve drove for 2 hours in a torrential downpour I changed our route and we were on autoroute for the rest of the way.
The rain eased as we turned off the autoroute to drive into the mountains and to Lenk. We arrived at 5pm and checked in. This is our 7th year in a row staying here, the 5th year in the same apartment right in the town center. Lenk is small, population 2,500, but is beautiful and has great hiking. It was very busy here this summer because the Swiss vacationed at home, as did the Brits who crowded out our area in Dorset, but their holidays are over and the town is quiet. Maybe it will be busier when the weather improves.
It rained all day Saturday and we got out for a short walk. The same on Sunday, but it was colder (42F), the rain was heavier and there was snow on the mountains.
I walked out in the rain this morning for fresh bread and gipfels (Swiss croissants) and got soaked. The one bakery that was open was busy but everyone lines up and spreads out. Masks are only required here on public transportation but everyone socially distances in the shops and on the street. We went into the supermarket on Friday and it wasn’t busy and everyone kept their distance. As usual, everyone is very friendly here. This morning in the bakery everyone in line greeted each other.
When we left home Switzerland was on the safe list, however it was removed a few days later. This will impact our return plans. We can take our time through France and we will have to quarantine unless we go to Italy (a safe country, but for how long?), spend 14 days there then go home via Austria (safe, I think) and Germany (safe), then transit France (not safe). But no need to think about this now because with the UK everything can change at any time. These are not usual travel conditions but I am happy that we made the trip.
We spent the first night in Abbeville, an hours drive from the tunnel.
We spent the second night in Langres, a small walled town north of Dijon.
Hotel des Remparts.
View from our room.
We arrived in Lenk, in the rain on Friday afternoon. It rained all day Saturday and Sunday. Sunday was cold, 42F, and when the rain stopped and the cloud lifted we saw snow on the mountains.
