swandav2000

Hi love travel Aus! Sorry not to have responded sooner -- head's in a muddle! Yes! Love to meet up with you again the next time you come this way.

Hi JulieVikmanis! Yes it's hard waiting to hear about the Christmas markets. I hope they go on..... but hate to think my nephew changed his plans in vain. Well, I'm sure he could live with the disappointment -- just a fact of life in a pandemic. Yes, I'd love to meet on your next trip here!

s

OReilly64

Hello Pepper!

I am gasping for Paris, as I had to cancel at least three trips over the past 18 months.



I have planned a trip to Paris, in September, 12 days with a 5 day trip to Lyon toward the end.



I have booked a lovely officially licensed studio apartment in the 20th .



What are your plans?



Kind regards Ger

scrb11

Paris seems more or less back. I haven't tried any of the big tourist venues but people are out and about, even though the weather isn't great -- drizzly, no sun. Cafes and bars are full, well at least outside. People on a narrow sidewalk with one of those stand tables, about 8 of them crowded around it, with their beers on the table, talking loudly in each other's faces. Masking is at best 50% outside. Some people would put on masks to enter Saint Sulpice, for example.

Scaffolding everywhere, Grand Palais -- never been able to go in there and been trying for years --, Invalides and of course Notre Dame.

I think people are watching out for the delta variant, to see if cases explode again. Fully vaccinated people are kind of well-protected but there are stories of outbreaks in Israeli schools and in Sydney. Then talk of vaccine-resistant Nepal variant, which is delta plus an additional mutation.

So they may shut down travel by the fall or winter again, if trends move in the opposite direction.

Macross

We might be able to for our Nov trip. I am going to ask my doctor. You can do blood work and test antibodies. So many aren't getting them in my state and there are plenty of vaccines. I just left the grocery store and not one person was wearing a mask. The variant worries me. We have booked a house on Islay for next year and seeing cheap Dublin flights. Might just take the bus to Belfast and catch the ferry to Scotland. Wales and then ferry from Holyhead. We want to see friends in Dublin so a couple of nights would make us happy.

AlessandraZoe

It's ironic that I just got your update, Macross. Just last night, my husband and I decided to cancel. If we're going to face the Delta variant while traveling, we might as well do it on home turf visiting our DC area branch of the family. I hope your trips will go as planned.

Although the latest research is showing mRNA vaccines are holding tough against most critical illnesses and may last far longer than initially predicted, the research also holds that the elderly probably will need a booster. Exactly WHEN is anybody's guess. and these are questions I have to ask our new doc. We relocated to another state a year ago (in the middle of COVID, giving us an instant tour of facemask attitudes across a lot of state lines) and have just managed to snag appts with a PCP, a gerontologist.. I'm a month shy of 68; my husband is 76. We're in good health, but we must face facts that our aging immune systems are just not that robust.

I get so angry at the people who disdain the easily available vaccines here in the US. Our Aussie cousins still can't GET a shot--and they'd do it in a heart beat because they feel it's the right thing to do for their country.
AZ

kerouac

The return of La Samaritaine

zebec

Kerouac, that is a pair of great shots. Was it not that same store that had a well-known vista viewing platform on its roof? And will that be re-instated as part of the reopening?
Just curious?
I am done. the bumped head

kerouac

I don't know if the outdoor terrace will open again. It might be part of the 5-star hotel opening in the building in September. However, they have installed a pretty incredible HD webcam showing the view of the Seine that you would see from up there.

scrb11

It was closed for covid?

There's one department store which has an incredible domed roof, that looks like stained-glass art. Not religious motifs as you'd see in a cathedral of course, but maybe like Art Nouveau motifs.

kerouac

No, it was closed for 16 years purportedly for struxtural weakness.

You are thinking of Galeries Lafayette.

MaineGG

Thanks, Kerouac. I've been hoping you would wander in to take some photos. What do you think of what they have done to highlight and preserve the architectural details? The project has seemed to take forever.

mjs

I would be hesitant on planning for Europe in July given what’s happening with Covid delta in The UK and Portugal

Flwrhead

I surely wish I had a crystal ball. I feel like with variants and low vax rates in the States, Delta won't be the last variant. I worry that if we don't hop that plane NOW, it may be years and years before we're able to. Then again, do I want to go through the emotional see-saw of planning a trip, only to have it canceled (again)? And I know it's a very privileged dilemma to have.

gomiki

kerouac, I loved that store. I spent a stupid amount of time looking at the diorama they had about the history of the store. And reading the details. I left a favorite scarf on the back of a bathroom door. I still miss it. The store and the scarf.

I remember the stairs as having more of a deco industrial grid. Is that a incorrect memory?

kerouac

I already posted my full report on another thread here (but I forgot which one), so here is the link again: The transformation of La Samaritaine | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)

It is Galeries Lafayette that used to have a spectacular monumental staircase, but it was removed (something like 30 years ago) because it was interfering with commercial space. And people prefer escalators anyway. I didn't zoom in on the detail, but the stairs at La Samaritaine are supposedly enhanced with authentic gold leaf.

Pepper_von_snoot

We are going shopping at La Samartine in two weeks just so we can get some of their shopping bags. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️ ‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

I know all the Paris gays will be there, too. 🤩

Thin,aristocrat 🦌

MaineGG

Thanks for posting the link to your report. Don't know how I missed it. Thanks again for being there to show us what's happening in Paris while we are not able to see for ourselves.

kerouac

Unless La Samaritaine has changed the game, I think that they prefer BHV/Marais L'Homme on rue de la Verrerie for their luxury goods.

MaineGG

Mask requirements in Paris as of June 30. Translated from official city website - link below - in French only.
It will be interesting to see how strictly these are enforced with fines collected.

The use of masks is mandatory in all enclosed places open to the public. Outdoors, it must be respected in the following situations:

• In markets, flea markets and unpacked sales.
• During gatherings of people of all kinds in the public street (protest or festive).
• In public transport waiting areas (platforms, bus shelters).
• In front of the entrances to schools and universities at entry and exit times.
• In front of places of worship.
• In the queues that form in the public space (at the entrance of a store, a cinema, a bar, etc.).

Note that these provisions do not apply to people with disabilities.

Failure to comply with these prohibitions will result in a fine of € 135.

https://www.paris.fr/pages/covid-19-...es-paris-15598

mjs

Going to Bordeaux for three nights starting tomorrow. Do those Paris rules apply everywhere in France? We wear masks every time indoors and when around crowds