Paris, France: Our Experience with COVID Travel and Entry Requirements, the Passe Sanitaire, and Testing to Return to the USA
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| Just like many other travel destinations, France has a few COVID-related requirements that tourists need to fulfill in order to enter the country. |
Dates of Travel: Saturday, August 28th – Friday, September 3rd, 2021 (click here to read the full 7-day trip report)
Entering France from the USA
Since Andy and I had been fully vaccinated months before our trip, there were only a couple of further entry requirements we needed to fulfill.
We simply needed to bring our CDC vaccination cards, along with a signed form attesting that we did not have symptoms of COVID on the day we planned to fly. As an additional measure, Andy and I chose to bring along negative COVID test results, just in case. All simple enough. However, this was only what was required to enter France. If we wanted to have any fun once we were there, we needed something more.Obtaining the Passe Sanitaire
In order to do the usual tourist activities, such as visiting a museum or eating at a restaurant (indoors or out), the French government was now requiring patrons to display a passe sanitaire – a health pass – as proof of being fully vaccinated with one of the four approved vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, or AstraZeneca). EU citizens had an easy enough path for establishing proof of vaccination, but Americans and other foreign travellers had to go through a much more nebulous process. Back when we were travelling, that process was to send various documents and an application via email. Later on, an online portal was launched. At this time, I believe the latest protocol is to visit a pharmacy once you are in France and get your health pass there. The most up-to-date information is available here.
In any case, back when we were travelling, the overwhelming number of applications being processed by email meant that many American travellers were unable to get a health pass in time for their journey. In that event, travellers were then advised to be tested for COVID while in France. Assuming you test negative, you would then receive a temporary health pass that is only good for 72 hours. This advice would require getting tested every three days of your vacation, at about €30 a pop.
Online reports noted that the relevant authorities were being fairly flexible about accepting the American CDC card in lieu of the French health pass, probably because it proved to be so difficult to get. Nevertheless, Andy and I knew we would have much greater peace of mind if we could get that health pass in time for our trip. We followed the online instructions to the letter and submitted our application materials 11 days before our flight was scheduled to depart – the earliest we were allowed to apply, according to their instructions. However, like so many other hopeful applicants, we never heard anything after the auto-reply indicated receipt of our materials. Two days away from our trip, I decided to make a last-ditch effort and resubmit our materials, but more strategically this time. I scheduled an email to go out at 3:00am our time, which would be 10:00am in France, hoping someone would be in the office when our email notification popped up and take pity on us. This strategy worked to perfection and the next morning I woke up to my (and Andy’s) health pass in the email inbox. This included the much-coveted QR code that needed to be scanned upon entry at every single restaurant and attraction.
Using the Passe Sanitaire
Andy and I each downloaded the TousAntiCovid app onto our cellphones. From there, we scanned our health passes into a digital wallet of sorts, avoiding the need to carry around a paper printout. Finally, we used a widget connected to the app to place the health pass QR code onto our cell phone home screens. This allowed for easy access throughout our trip, although I imagine a screen capture of the QR code might work just as well.
I will note that no cellular data was required while scanning the health pass QR code during entry to restaurants and attractions.
That was initially a concern of mine – that they would ask to see the QR
code in the app in the digital wallet (rather than on my home screen) – thus
requiring a data connection. Thankfully,
that was never required.
That said, in our experience, every single place we entered did
want to see our QR code. This included
museums, the Palace of Versailles, and everywhere we dined, whether indoors or
outdoors, and even in places where we seated ourselves. We soon developed the habit of placing our
cell phones on the table with the QR code face-up, ready to be scanned as soon
as we were seated.
Testing to Return to the USA
The US required all returning travellers to be tested for
COVID within 3 calendar days of their return flight, regardless of vaccination
status. If you did wind up testing
positive for COVID, you would then be subject to a very long mandatory quarantine
period before you could return home – something to be aware of, before deciding
whether or not to travel (and while considering your travel insurance options). Although we usually never travel with our laptops,
Andy and I both brought our work laptops with us this time, just in case…
To put our minds at ease, we went for our mandatory COVID
test as early as we were allowed, precisely three days in advance of our
departure. While there were white tents
all over Paris offering COVID tests, Andy and I chose to go to a pharmacy near
our hotel called Pharmacie Bader (located
on Blvd. Saint-Michel).
We each had to fill out a one-page form (available in
English) and wait in a short line, though we had certainly seen that line much
longer at other times over the previous days.
Eventually, our number was called, and €30/person later, it was time for
our tests. I went first. I bantered with the pharmacist a bit, and
though he was pleasant enough, the experience of the test was decidedly
UNPLEASANT, for they definitely seem to jab the swab much further up your nose
in France than they do at home. I could
just barely keep it together.
Forty-five minutes later we were back in our hotel room when
the results arrived in our email; Andy and I were both COVID-negative. Cue a deep sigh of relief. We asked the hotel’s front desk to print out
hard copies of the results for us, in case our digital results were
insufficient at the airport. As it
turned out, digital copies of our test were enough to get us on the plane home,
but I am always happy to carry hard copies, too, since you never know how a
particular staff member or gate agent will feel.
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