Masks in Germany & France

Andrea,
I would prefer bringing a dozen good masks over spending time looking for them once there. We ordered K95 RespoKare masks that are NIOSH approved. I'm no expert! These are comfortable and we switch them out after about 5-6 uses.

https://respokare.com/us/

Easy to find in France.

FFP2 masks, which are like N95 in the United States from what I understand, are affordable and available in literally every supermarket, pharmacy, drug store, department store, etc in Germany. Even my bakery has them. I would absolutely not feel the need to "import" them in my luggage.

Be careful with the Respokare mask sizes—— make sure the size is indicated in the the order. At least one seller offers only size Medium (without specifying the size). I bought these originally and they fit my face well, but they are too small and too tight for my husband, as well as for other people I know. It turns out that most adults need the Large. I did find size Large for my husband about 6 months ago, but last time I checked, that seller was out of stock.

You can buy whatever masks you need here. I absolutely would NOT waste luggage space bringing them for the whole trip.

Thanks everyone!

Germany has plenty of masks available in every store, grocery, drugstore, or pharmacy. Get them here so you know you have the right ones for what ever is going on with Covid in March.

Make sure you have enough for your to-ing and fro-ing, since you'll be wearing them nonstop once you leave your house until you get into your hotel. And vice versa. And not cloth masks or bandanas, real N95 or KN95 masks from a reputable seller.
Otherwise, easy to buy masks in Europe, which isn't a surprise since they require them just like we do.

easy to buy masks in Europe, which isn't a surprise since they require them just like we do.

I would argue that most places in Western Europe require much more mask wearing than most places in the United States.

Kim, that’s the reason I think I’ll feel comfortable there, as opposed to at home. We have too many maskholes here where I live. I think I’ll be fine wearing a mask for the long days in transit from and back to the west coast. I was in the hospital for 2 days last summer and never took my mask off except for a drink of water.

Andrea, I use the WellBefore KN95 masks that are individually packaged so they are great for putting in a suitcase, purse, backpack easily and stay perfectly clean. They are very lightweight and thinly packaged. They are listed on many of the "Top 10" mask lists. I wore them through Turkey, France, Italy over 8 weeks in the Fall last year. Very comfortable. I will be in France & Italy in May and June and I expect the COVID risk to be lessened by them (fingers crossed).

Thanks btg95825. I went to their website and of course they were sold out.

Try a site called Bona Fide Masks, and there are usually coupons available.

As for Europe masking more than the US, I've been masking whenever outside my house (except walking) for 2 years now. Quite used to it.

Indeed, Phred. And when I was in Oklahoma, the only people i ever saw masked were my parents and I (including my unmasked pharmacist cousin at work at his pharmacy counseling clients.

The experience in California can't be extrapolated to a great swath of the United States, where mask-wearing is not only not the norm, it also often marks you out for ridicule and even contempt. It's just a whole other game.

California has some strict protocols regarding masks and vaccines, depending on where you live. We were in the Bay Area yesterday, Contra Costa County specifically. Masks were required to enter anywhere indoors, and proof of vaccination was required to enter into any eating establishments. Even so, we got food to go and ate at my brother’s house. I wish it was like that in my county. I live just north of Sacramento County in a county that is largely rural and stretches to the Nevada state line. While masks are required state wide, my county decided they weren’t going to enforce the mandate. Even in stores that have large signs saying masks are required, it’s very hit and miss. I live in the largest city in the county, with roughly 140,000 people. I see maskholes almost everywhere I go. We can’t do anything about people who don’t care about others, so we have to take responsibility for ourselves. We wear masks everywhere and doing that in Europe won’t be a hardship.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and suggestions.