We arrive into London from US on 12/20, then we Eurostar the same day into Paris. We arrive at 9 pm or so on a Monday... I understand that we will need to convert our CDC card into a health pass to check into our hotel. We will have our suitcases etc, and will need to grab a taxi, so is there something close by that is open, so we can just take care of it right there? Thank you.
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2545 posts
The pass sanitaire is not required to check into a hotel, nor to simply go shopping. It is required to eat at restaurants/cafés, enter museums, or other places where people gather. It would seemingly be easier to have a pharmacy do this when you are not carrying luggage. Most pharmacies are not particularly large and limit access to just a few people at once due to social distancing concerns. I would just do this in the morning somewhere near your hotel. It will not really be convenient walking around Gare du Nord in the dark looking for a pharmacy and then trying to find a taxi.
Be very careful about taxis at Gare du Nord; be sure the driver starts the meter. Be careful if the driver attempts to charge a fixed taxi fee, as there are none (unless you are goiing to CDG/ORY). The most unscrupulous drivers seem to gravitate to Gare du Nord.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10190 posts
Has the hotel told you this? Or is it for you to eat breakfast at the hotel? I have never heard of such a thing.
I agree with Tocard that you should go directly to your hotel.
Posted by
Paris
6897 posts
You will not find an open pharmacy at that time of the night around Gare du Nord, except for emergencies... Thankfully, as others have said, you do not need to! You can take care of it on Tuesday morning, no problem.
Of greater concern to me is the fact that you transit through England to get to France. As of today, it is possible, but my understanding is that it requires a negative test that is be less than 48 hours old at the time of Eurostar boarding. So that's about 30-36 hours before leaving the US...
Posted by
OP
20 posts
Balso
We plan to test the morning that we leave (from California), which should be fine for both London and Paris entry. I assumed that the time change would be taken into consideration since it is still 48 hours whether we are in California or Paris. Is that incorrect? If so can you lead me to an official site that states this? Traveling through England is not ideal, but our original plans were to visit London first. To change our plane to Paris direct, would be very expensive. We had the Eurostar reservation so we just changed it instead.
12/19 Test 9 am PST
12/19 Board plane to London 8 pm PST
12/20 arrive London 1:30 local time
12/20 board Eurostar 6 pm local time
12/20 arrive Paris 9:15 pm local time
Posted by
OP
20 posts
Tocard- Thank you. Is Uber better?
Posted by
Paris
6897 posts
Your test timing does seem to work!
Of course, you should check for any changes in requirements next week. UK government website (gov.uk) and the French embassy in the UK website are reliable and up-to-date sources of info.
As for Uber: the trouble with Uber at a train station is finding the car, they cannot use the taxi rank so they have to wait for you somewhere nearby. Not super easy at night in an unfamiliar location.
So I would just take a taxi, heading straight to the taxi line and not following any touts.
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2545 posts
The SNCF has a car service that can be arranged in advance. If you like, someone can meet you near the quai with your name on a sign. Gare du Nord is the one place I would arrange for pickup:
Posted by
Los Angeles
4412 posts
Make sure you get input from the UK government and the French government and eurostar, compare and contrast and assume that none of them are entirely correct