US State Dept Statement on the French passe sanitaire

[Wings55]

@Host Jazzbeau  I agree, I believe you will need the passe sanitaire to access most public venues. If the ship's excursions venture into any of those places I would expect the health pass would be required. Better toe safe than sorry.

We applied two days ago and have not received anything yet. Two days 'til we depart for Paris. 

Paul

[TFree]

@Wings55 I hope you receive the Passe Sanitaire by the time you arrive, and please let us know when and if you do.  Once received, is it your understanding that it will be accepted in other EU countries as well, to the extent they require proof of vaccination status?  If so that would be a real plus for those (like us) who will be on an ocean cruise.

Tom & Judy

[Wings55]

6 minutes ago, TFree said:

@Wings55 I hope you receive the Passe Sanitaire by the time you arrive, and please let us know when and if you do.  Once received, is it your understanding that it will be accepted in other EU countries as well, to the extent they require proof of vaccination status?  If so that would be a real plus for those (like us) who will be on an ocean cruise.

Tom & Judy

@TFreeOur flight is scheduled to leave tomorrow, 24 hours from now and still no health passes from France. I hope they arrive today but I'd be surprised if a government office is processing paperwork on the weekend. I'm having my doubts about the program right now. If it arrives before we leave I'll try to update this thread.

I have not heard that other EU countries are accepting the passe sanitaire. It could be possible but I haven't seen anything to indicate so. 

[Coral]

On 8/14/2021 at 10:29 AM, Wings55 said:

@TFreeOur flight is scheduled to leave tomorrow, 24 hours from now and still no health passes from France. I hope they arrive today but I'd be surprised if a government office is processing paperwork on the weekend. I'm having my doubts about the program right now. If it arrives before we leave I'll try to update this thread.

I have not heard that other EU countries are accepting the passe sanitaire. It could be possible but I haven't seen anything to indicate so. 

Good luck!!

[Wings55]

This morning after arriving at our hotel I did some more research on the health pass situation. I discovered a site that stated this;

 

You can get a 48-hour pass sanitaire using the app if you get a negative COVID test in France, but if you’re staying for a while, that could become a hassle.

For those planning on sticking around in France, there is a workaround, at least if you’re in Paris. The Hôtel-Dieu hospital in the 4th arrondissement has set up a small office dedicated to converting American vaccination cards into French health passes. You may have to wait in line for up to an hour, but it’s the only way to do it by the book as of now. 

 

We took a cab to the hospital where the guard promptly told us 'not possible'. We found another door around the side where a very nice gentleman confirmed they were providing the passes for Americans last week... but not this week. He instructed us to go to the US Embassy where they could help us. We walked over there and were given the same instructions we  submitted from home last week. We have decided that we'll go to the pharmacy tomorrow for a new COVID test. That will give us a 48 hour pass that will cover most of our time in Paris. What happens once we board the AmaLyra on Thursday is anybody's guess.  So far I'm not very impressed with France's handling of their pass system. Good luck to anyone else coming to France in the near future. 🤞

Paul

[Daisi]

@Wings55, just heard from a member on an Avalon cruise who also didn't receive her pass in time.  She is saying that they can go anywhere with just their proof of vaccination. They were on tours of Alsace yesterday, going through castles and wineries with only the vaccine proof.   Paris may be a different story, but hopefully once you are out on cruise you will have the same results.  Good luck.

[Wings55]

We got up early today and visited one of the many COVID testing labs around the city. We were told we would get our test results tonight or early tomorrow. It's now 5:30pm and Jane just got her negative result followed shortly by the much coveted Passe Sanitaire QR code. Hopefully mine will not be far behind. A nice Paris bistro would be preferred over hotel room service this evening. Also it will be need to get into Versailles tomorrow morning. 🤞

[notamermaid]

I hope your result comes back negative soon and you can have a great evening out. Then have a splendid day in Versailles. Does Paris feel crowded or is it more restrained? Did you have to book Versailles in advance?

 

notamermaid

 

[Wings55]

13 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I hope your result comes back negative soon and you can have a great evening out. Then have a splendid day in Versailles. Does Paris feel crowded or is it more restrained? Did you have to book Versailles in advance?

 

notamermaid

 

Well we have had mixed results. Jane received her negative result and coveted QR code around 6pm last night. As of 8AM I haven't heard anything and we're scheduled to leave for Versailles in one hour. I'm not sure if I'll go along for the ride or if I'll do some walking around Paris on my own today. 🤷‍♂️

This is my first visit to Paris so I'm probably not a good judge but I would say it's very quiet. We had no issues during our walking tour yesterday and only once or twice was the a very short line as they looked into our bags or backpacks. The only thing that was busy was the Metro at rush hour. Due to the fact it's holiday season, many of the smaller shops are closed.

Yes our TbL guide, Eugenie, purchased our Versailles tickets last week.

Paul

 

[Wings55]

My final report on this topic... I promise! Our Tours by Local guide volunteered to call the testing lab to see if she could track down my test results. The call took quite some time, but in the end they found my file. Eugenie gave them my e-mail address again and within a few minutes I had the necessary paperwork. I'm not sure how long it will remain in effect but it should be ok until Thursday morning before we board the ship. 

I wonder if we will ever hear anything about the paperwork we submitted to the French government one week ago. 

[TFree]

2 hours ago, Wings55 said:

My final report on this topic... I promise! Our Tours by Local guide volunteered to call the testing lab to see if she could track down my test results. The call took quite some time, but in the end they found my file. Eugenie gave them my e-mail address again and within a few minutes I had the necessary paperwork. I'm not sure how long it will remain in effect but it should be ok until Thursday morning before we board the ship. 

I wonder if we will ever hear anything about the paperwork we submitted to the French government one week ago. 

Glad to hear that it worked out for you, for the short run.  But it is not encouraging that you haven't heard back in a week, despite the fact that they were supposedly giving priority to people, like you, who were in France right now.  I guess we had better apply way in advance of our ocean cruise in October, during which we will have a couple of excursions into France.  

Tom & Judy

[Wings55]

On 8/18/2021 at 9:36 AM, TFree said:

Glad to hear that it worked out for you, for the short run.  But it is not encouraging that you haven't heard back in a week, despite the fact that they were supposedly giving priority to people, like you, who were in France right now.  I guess we had better apply way in advance of our ocean cruise in October, during which we will have a couple of excursions into France.  

Tom & Judy

Once again I've made a liar out of myself. 😉 The COVID test I took did not come back until our Tours by Local guide volunteered to call the testing lab and 'go to bat' for me. It took some time but they looked up the results and emailed the results to me. I thought I was in the clear but when we got back to the hotel and I attempted to sign into the system the password I was given (name/birthdate) failed. The hotel desk called and after much discussion convinced the lab to fix the password and I FINALLY received a copy of the negative test, but I never got the second email with the QR test. What a waste of time and money.

 

BUT...... we finally got the official passes yesterday afternoon, the one based on the paperwork we submitted eight days ago. 

 

Yes, plan to submit the paperwork earlier than you might have but a little patience finally paid off.