After a two-year gap, I’m back in France for a vacation that covers 28 days.  I arrived Paris a week ago (Oct 19, ‘21) Tuesday on a Boeing 787-10 out of Newark.  The flight was less than half-full.  The flow of passengers is a one-way street now given a nonsensical policy of non-reciprocity on international travel by the US government.  We Americans can go to Europe but the Biden administration has been slow to allow Euros into the US. For what?  The virus and vax numbers are no better in America than the places we’ve been barring entry from. 

That’ll finally change November 9 after shrieks for a sane approach from the US travel and entertainment industry – not to mention governments abroad who are letting Americans into their countries (vax required for “non-essential” – or fun entry).

I stayed six nights at an Ibis property in the 13th arrondissement.  The hotel appeared to be a converted apartment building as it was the lone lodging spot on a residential street near the Corvisart 6 line metro stop.  It was 90 euros a night, in a good location.  The room was pint-sized.  A normal sized human must wedge oneself into the tiny bathroom/shower space.  A small breakfast buffet was offered from 6 to 10 AM and included the fresh squeezed OJ which Ibis is famous for.

The only small drama going into the trip was the effort to obtain a “pass sanitaire” from the French government before arrival.  The health pass is a QR code (printed – or compatible with the app “TousAntiCovid”). It is required for entry into bars, restaurants, performance venues, museums and soccer matches.  All the things I planned to do hinged on getting the pass sanitaire.  Unlike the U-S where every state or city is doing their own thing on vax status as a condition for participation in daily activities, France has a streamlined, country-wide approach.  You want in on something fun, you must have the pass sanitaire.  Most crucial to me even beyond its necessity for enjoying Paris was domestic air and long-haul train travel requires the pass sanitaire.  Displaying an American CDC card doesn’t cut it over here – so a specially created office inside the Office of the Ministere de l’Europe et des Affaires Etrangeres in Nantes was set up to convert foreign vaccination proof into the pass sanitaire.  A few months before I left, the web site of the special office handling conversions urged applicants to wait until just a few days before arriving given a large backlog.  I waited until a week before my departure and waited anxiously for a response.  On the night before I left, I still didn’t have it.  Nothing.  So, I started looking at Reddit forums to see if others were having the same problem.  I came across a Paris food tour website aimed at US tourists which was incredibly informative about the subject.  What ultimately yielded a positive outcome was a Reddit post suggesting one apply exactly at 9 AM local time in France.  Using a different email address from the one attached to my first application, I got up in the middle of the night in New York and sent a second effort precisely at 3 AM.  A couple minutes later, Voila, the QR was sent – and I was good to go.  That quirky trick on timing would suggest a bot handles the applications but who knows.  The afternoon of my arrival, my original application was approved – about nine days after I sent it in.  

Pretty much everywhere I’ve gone, the pass is checked.  At the bar, at the restaurant, at the museum, even the outdoor ligue 2 soccer match on Saturday between Paris Football Club and Toulouse Football Club (an exciting 2-2 draw).  It was checked twice when I flew from Orly to Toulouse on Monday (Oct 25 ‘21).  I actually feel an extra layer of protection and confidence being inside places where I know those around me are vaccinated.  Big street protests against the pass have faded in recent weeks with polls now showing at least two-thirds in favor of the requirement now.  Unvaxxed aren’t completely excluded.  A negative test converts into a three-day pass and proof of virus recovery works as well.  I’ve asked as many people as possible why one would oppose the pass.  Privacy and overreach by government are cited as reasons, neither of which to me are more compelling than the effort to snuff the spread.   

People wear masks with greater diligence on the Paris Metro than the NYC subway by far.  Just by eye, I’d say it’s 99-percent compliance on the Paris trains and buses vs. a gradually shrinking 80-percent in New York.  

The only health hurdle for me on this trip is the test I’ll be required to take inside 48 hours of arrival in the UK in the middle of next month and inside 72 hours pre-departure to the states.  I’ve timed my return so that I can use the same test result to comply with both requirements.  But obviously, I’ll need a negative result and will feel some nervousness about that test given the massive hassle a breakthrough positive would mean for a timely return home.  

But when you’re on a month-long vacation coming out of what we all came through, you try not to worry too much about that.  

Now in Toulouse for two weeks, I’m staying in an apartment in a large building rented via Airbnb in the city center.  My first night was a near disaster.  I went out to get groceries and returned to insert the key in the door locks of two apartments that were not mine.  I blame darkness in the hallway and the fact the apartment number does not correspond with the floor number.  Many of the apartments (including mine) do not have posted numbers.  In a panic as I looked for the correct room, I remembered a well-worn “Bienvenue” floor mat and used that feature to finally find the right place.  

Two clear-cut dining wins so far are worth mentioning.  First, the cauliflower soup at Le Bar a Soupes in Paris last Friday.  Wow, it was tasty.  And yesterday, with Jacques and Elisa, the swordfish (Basque style) at Rocher de la Vierge in Toulouse.  It was incredible.  Pink in the middle, super fresh with flavor to savor. 

I’ve had just one rainy day out of nine so far.  A big storm off the ocean dumped buckets overnight last Wednesday into much of the day Thursday while I was watching the jumpers at Auteuil.  

The Othoniel exhibit at Petit Palais was incredible.  I was able to see Seb, Marie and Julien who weathered the pandemic and had stories to tell.  

One needs to look both ways with even greater caution now in Paris given the bicycle revolution ramped up with smarts during the pandemic by that city’s great socialist mayor.

Matching a pattern I’ve seen in NYC, the streets and trains in Paris were noticeably crowded and filled with energy on the weekend but kinda slow on the weekdays.  This would fit the idea some are still working from home and bust it out when Saturday/Sunday comes around.