On Arrival

Following our very swift and stable landing, we were advised to disembark row by row (from the front), staying in our seats until the row in front had left. Some people struggled a bit to understand this instruction, but most followed the rules, and the disembarkation was actually relatively swift and easy – why they didn’t do it like this before the pandemic, is beyond me? It took about the same time as a normal disembarkation, but without all of the pushing, shoving and frustration – a lot more civilised! Nice airport was relatively quiet (apart from the obligatory easyJet queue of socially-distanced passengers waiting patiently to board our aircraft back to Gatwick), and the queue for the passport control (no specific EU or Non-EU lanes) was pretty swift too. The Immigration staff glanced at my passport, in the usual way, no questions were asked and I was ushered on my way. EasyJet had sent me (6 times actually) an e-mail to advise that I must complete a Declaration of Travel form and a Health Declaration form (but no other passengers seemed to have these and they were not requested by the Immigration Officers). I’m guessing this information only applied before the FCO ban on non-essential travel was lifted. I was a little unsure about travelling to France as the information pre-travel was a little confusing. I knew I was allowed to travel, allowed to enter France and would not have to quarantine on arrival back in the UK, but the (what now seems to be rather out of date) information on the French Government’s website suggested I may be asked to partake in voluntary quarantine for 14 days on arrival but there was no mention of this on the plane or on arrival at the airport, so I guess this is no longer in place. No wonder we’re all confused about whether to travel or not… After I had gone through Passport Control, everything was the same, from baggage collection, taxi, bus and tram offerings, information desks – just a lack of shops to browse, but this is a small price to pay. I paid for my bus ticket to Cannes at the information Desk (cash is accepted here) and waited outside, thankfully taking off my face covering – it’s the longest I’d had to wear one, and whilst OK, I was glad for the fresh air – I feel so sorry for the key workers that have to wear them all day! It is obligatory to wear face coverings on public transport in France though, so this delight came back 30 minutes later for my short bus ride to Cannes. The public buses all have hand sanitiser to use on them too – again, just another small reassurance. It felt so good to get away, experience a change of scenery, and for me, get back to a bit of normality and enjoy my favourite thing – travel! Read my next blog for the French Riviera experience…