Visa required?

[D&N]

Apart from our local news site NiceMatin, I review https://www.francetvinfo.fr/ regularly. That is the French equivalent to the UK's BBC. It's in French but most browsers will translate for you.

If you can afford to I would suggest giving things a bit more time.

Today's headlines are more about demos against a large artificial irrigation reservoir scheme in Deux Sevres in Western France. The local news on pensions demos suggests between 500 and 1,500 demonstrators in Nice today depending on who's numbers you believe. Those are relatively small numbers. Admittedly this area isn't a barometer for the country as it's extremely right wing.

The pension thing may eventually fizzle out. They've been trying to address the problem for at least 15 years, and what's now tabled is so watered down they'll probably need to do more in a few years time.

 

BTW. The Bordeaux Town Hall fire wasn't quite as scary as some make out. It was only the facia of the old wooden front door that was set on fire and quickly dealt with by the emergency services.

Should never have happened of course but some news sites do like to exaggerate.

[techteach]

Thanks to all to have replied to the OP. I didn’t know about the overnight ferry from Caen to Portsmouth. I’m tucking that information away for after DH retires and we finally get to go to France.

[D&N]

Today's strike/protest numbers are down on last Thursday but they plan another on April 6th. It remains to be seen if a downward trend develops.

Last week appears to have been a reaction to the forcing through of the legislation by executive powers, the narrow defeat of the main no confidence motion and then the last straw being the President's TV interview, which many of the union folk thought was too confrontational.

I got the feeling from reports a few weeks ago that the law might narrowly pass by a normal vote but it appears that so many questions and amendments had been tabled that it could have taken years to debate.

On a positive note; half the Paris refuse collectors are expected to return to work tomorrow.  The other half were not on strike as they are private sector contractors and probably are not entitled to the same minimum retiral age as their council agency equivalents. Hopefully the areas the strikers cover will get tidied up a bit.

And there are supposed to be meetings between Prime Minister and unions between April 3rd and 5th. I get the impression she's not so confrontational so hopefully might smooth things over.

[D&N]

Today's strike/demo numbers are down from last time. Again they plan another on April 13th. it is suggested that today might be a bit of a lull over the pension issue, whereas next week will be the eve of the Constitutional Council's judgement on the legislation. That's a body of 9, which reviews the legality of legislation in terms of whether it complies with The French Constitution.

The press don't seem to be trying to guess the outcome. The demos will be trying to influence the decision, which is unlikely. I would expect a legally based decision rather than something based on opinions of a section of the population.

It remains to be seen what reaction there will be if they find no reason to block progress of the legislation.

I doubt it will become any clearer for a few more weeks.

[NE John]

We officially shelved the French portion of our land trip and we now going to do use London and Bath as our bases before our June 23 TA. We’ll leave from Bath to go to Southampton instead of busy London. 
 

@Host Hattie  I plan a day trip to Cardiff from Bath and look forward to our first visit to Wales.

@D&N thank you for your updates. First we postponed France because of the Yellow Vests, then Covid, now this. Tout c’est dommage…Next time. 

[Host Hattie]

Good choice 

[Guppy99]

On 3/23/2023 at 12:31 PM, NE John said:

Thank you for your post. I’m doing a similar trip in June and planning on taking the Eurostar to Southhampton. I’ve never thought of direct car service there. If appropriate, can you share the name of your car service?

 

Now let’s hope the current turmoil in France will cool down soon to make any France segment of this trip happen. 

Even King Charles and Camilla’s trip to France next week may involve some protests and Royal drama!
 

The car service is picking us up at the hotel in Paris and driving us to the hotel in Southampton. As part of the trip we will be taking the car on the train through the Eurotunnel. We have 3 people, three large suitcases, 3 carry-ons, and two folded walkers. So a very large SUV.  The cost is 2000 Euros. (which includes the cost of the train). Still interested in the link?

[D&N]

1 hour ago, Guppy99 said:

The car service is picking us up at the hotel in Paris and driving us to the hotel in Southampton. As part of the trip we will be taking the car on the train through the Eurotunnel. We have 3 people, three large suitcases, 3 carry-ons, and two folded walkers. So a very large SUV.  The cost is 2000 Euros. (which includes the cost of the train). Still interested in the link?

That seems quite reasonable.

Otherwise you would taxi to Gare du Nord, Eurostar to St Pancras, taxi or tube to Waterloo, train to Southampton, taxi to hotel.

Saves you at least 4 changes, and if you need walkers some of those changes would have been quite difficult!

Other than someone wants to check the luggage at Coquelles it doesn't need to leave the trunk for the whole trip.

[NE John]

1 hour ago, Guppy99 said:

The car service is picking us up at the hotel in Paris and driving us to the hotel in Southampton.

Are you driving into Southampton the morning of embarkation?

I like the convenience of getting using the car service to complete everything in one trip, even at a premium to mass transit/hotel/more taxis etc. 

 

Best of luck! When is your embarkation day?

[Guppy99]

On 4/8/2023 at 4:49 PM, NE John said:

Are you driving into Southampton the morning of embarkation?

I like the convenience of getting using the car service to complete everything in one trip, even at a premium to mass transit/hotel/more taxis etc. 

 

Best of luck! When is your embarkation day?

We're going to Southampton the day before embarkation. Just a habit we have for making sure to accommodate any unexpected issues.  We embark 8/11

[Guppy99]

On 4/8/2023 at 4:23 PM, D&N said:

That seems quite reasonable.

Otherwise you would taxi to Gare du Nord, Eurostar to St Pancras, taxi or tube to Waterloo, train to Southampton, taxi to hotel.

Saves you at least 4 changes, and if you need walkers some of those changes would have been quite difficult!

Other than someone wants to check the luggage at Coquelles it doesn't need to leave the trunk for the whole trip.

That's our thought. This is a very special trip. My mother is 88 and unlikely to travel to Europe afterward. Cost is a secondary issue. Convenience and ease of travel is primary.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Guppy99

[NE John]

21 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

We're going to Southampton the day before embarkation. Just a habit we have for making sure to accommodate any unexpected issues.  We embark 8/11

Yes. I just looked into this and realize it’s a 6-7 hour drive.