As we depart Paris today for Arles, I thought I'd share a brief trip report for others travelling soon...
- Be prepared for flight changes. We flew Delta from PDX, major delays forced a complete reschedule of our flight as we checked in at the gate. We arrived the scheduled 3 hours early - which really wasn't necessary in an airport that small but I was anxious and turned out to be a good thing because of the last minute shuffle. It was not exactly convenient - we couldn't keep our comfort+ seats because the rebooked flight was full, and they changed our seats as we boarded and split us up so we had to negotiate with another passenger to sit together. But it turned out okay. So I guess the lesson is be flexible and expect changes to your plans. (And yes I'll be contacting Delta for a refund.)
- Had to present passport and CDC card at check-in and again when boarding the flight to CDG. Didn't ask for attestation although filled out a locator form that we had to turn in before landing.
- Long lines at border control at CDG, took almost an hour to get through and get to baggage claim. Passport was asked for, didn't have to present the Passe Sanitaire. Never asked to see the attestation. I think they were trying to get people through quickly because lines were so long.
- Took the RER B to our hotel by Luxembourg Gardens. Everyone was masked, got very crowded the farther we got into Paris.
- We were asked for the Passe Sanitaire almost everywhere, only 2 restaurants didn't ask for it and surprisingly they haven't asked for it on the TGV, either at boarding or when checking tickets (I'm on the TGV as I write this).
- Having to get reserved time slots for most places really sucked in planning for this trip. I like to plan out what to do each day, but not be rushed to be someplace at a particular time. I found tho that times didn't seem to matter anywhere except the Louvre. Sainte Chappelle and the Arc de Triomphe both say that they require times entry but we were about 30 minutes late for 1 and 20 minutes late for the other and neither batted an eye. Additionally the Pantheon says you need a timed entry but we were able to walk in without one, lots of people were. Only the Louvre checked our time. So I guess the lesson is don't stress about making the precise time and if you want to add something (like we did with the Pantheon) take a chance and try for it because chances are they'll let you in.
- Nothing was crowded except for the Arc de Triomphe and I suspect that is because of the wrap (which is now done). It's a great time to be traveling.
- Pretty much everywhere people were wearing masks inside, but not outside. Only saw a few exceptions to this.
- I felt very safe, unlike on my previous 2 visits I didn't run into any issues with aggressive beggars, thieves or scammers with one exception. I had the deaf girl/deaf school scam on both the pont neuf and outside the south courtyard entrance of the Louvre (towards Chatelet). What's funny is they were using the same exact form I saw them using when I was there 10 years ago. But none of the immigrants with bracelets or aggressive beggars that I've encountered before at the tower or Sacre Coeur.
- The trial at the Palais de Justice right now made it so we had to detour quite a bit to get where we needed to be in that area so allow extra time.
- The walks and self-guided tours in the RS Paris book are mostly still right on with few exceptions. The Roman Antiquities rooms at the Louvre are closed right now so we had to figure out how to get where we needed to be on that your, but otherwise worked well. And of course Notre Dame is surrounded by construction. You can't see the point zero marker and can only see the Charlemagne over the construction walls. You have to stand pretty far back to see the reliefs like St Denis over the walls.
We are on to 3 weeks in Provence now, flying out of Nice. I'll post another report after that. Happy travels!