Stéphanie and her husband made their decision several weeks ago: they will impose strict isolation on themselves from Friday, December 18.
The price to pay to celebrate Christmas at the parents' home ten days later, without fear of bringing the Covid-19 in the luggage.
Their three children, educated in kindergarten, middle school and high school, will not go to school Thursday and Friday.
"We did not wait for the government's statements to make this choice," assures this 45-year-old Parisian.
A "tolerance" will be applied on December 17 and 18 for the absences of students who quarantine themselves before the holidays, the Ministry of National Education announced on Tuesday morning.
A little earlier, the Scientific Council had recommended “self-containment” for a week to those who wish to spend Christmas or New Year with their family.
For Stéphanie, who teaches in kindergarten, this directive comes too late and is not sufficiently taken up.
"If we want to observe a reasonable period of isolation before the end of year holidays, it seemed logical to me to close schools this week, as in Germany," she annoys.
Announcing this on Tuesday, three days before the holidays, is to recognize that the virus can actively circulate in schools and make parents feel guilty.
"
Stéphanie, 45, teaches in a nursery school in Paris./DR
Like her, nearly one in four French people plan to self-isolate before the holidays, indicates a YouGov poll published by L'Obs on Tuesday.
"It's to protect the people we love", explains Camille.
This 26-year-old project manager will not leave her apartment in Hauts-de-Seine for a week, where she will work from home until next Tuesday.
She will then join her family "by car, so as not to take any risks".
“We will be seven to meet.
Everyone will be careful beforehand, ”says the young woman.
Mutual commitment
A sort of pact that Clément, his wife and their relatives also signed.
"We have all made a commitment to be particularly careful before meeting", indicates this 30-year-old engineer, who will receive his parents, his grandmother, as well as his brother-in-law, in his house in Aquitaine.
"We are lucky to have enough space to accommodate six adults without being on top of each other," said the father of two.
For him, the recommendation of the Scientific Council is welcome.
"If people are not able to limit their social interactions in the week before Christmas, it will become very complicated in January," says Clément, who "fears a third wave at the beginning of 2021".
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With his family, they will therefore not see anyone between December 18 and 24.
Their children, educated in nursery and primary and now familiar with "health protocols", accept it "without problem".
"They know that it is on this condition that they will be able to see their grandparents", underlines the thirty-something.
Be "more serene" on the big day
Noëlie, 39, on the other hand had to "empower" her 12-year-old eldest son who, this weekend, insisted on "going for a snack with his friends".
"I know it is restrictive, but it was either this immediate pleasure, or we possibly gave up going to see my parents, who accumulate risk factors, at Christmas", explains the resident of Hauts-de-Seine.
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While minors are allowed to resume indoor sports activities since Tuesday, Noëlie refuses her children to participate because "they would not wear a mask".
A relaxation that she also considers "quite inconsistent in anticipation of the holidays".
"The government could have waited for the start of the school year", deplores the mother of the family, who will continue to telework until the end of the year celebrations and to avoid any situation where she could not wear a mask, such as "this aperitif refused " last Saturday.
All insist on respecting barrier gestures on D-Day, but preventive self-containment will allow them to be "more serene" with their loved ones.
"We know very well that there will be situations where we will cross paths without our masks", recognizes Noëlie.
“At least we will have done our utmost to limit the risks,” adds Clément.
A test to "reassure yourself"
Will they do a test to have even more peace of mind?
"We are considering it", they tell us.
"But will it be of any use?
"" Don't the labs risk being overwhelmed?
They ask themselves then.
Noëlie, 39, will avoid any situation where she cannot wear a mask./DR
Erwan will take the plunge.
This 41-year-old biologist lives in Lyon, one of the cities offering a massive screening campaign, which made his decision easier.
The tests will be used above all to "reassure" him, because the isolation of seven days which it imposes would have been enough, estimates this father of two children.
"The four of us will be able to get tested on the 23rd and, as soon as we have the results, we'll hit the road, which will allow us to be with my in-laws on the evening of the 24th or the morning of the 25th", he projects.
There, 400 km from Lyon, there will be only six.
He had the luxury of not having to choose between his in-laws and his parents.
The latter preferred not to see them at Christmas, because of the epidemic.
“There is a difficulty when there is a choice to be made.
There are plenty of families who will spend Christmas with their parents and, a few days later, will go to see the parents-in-law, ”fears Erwan, who already sees“ cascading contagions ”.
Protect yourself
Laëtitia is well aware of this risk taking.
With her partner and their child in primary school, they planned to isolate themselves before each family celebration.
“Five days” of confinement will pass between the Christmas meal at his parents' house and that with his companion's family.
“It's a common agreement between the three generations,” explains the 40-year-old.
The four grandparents are all over 70, they are vulnerable.
"
She is also one of those at risk.
Suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis, a neurological disease characterized by disabling fatigue, Laëtitia follows with a worried eye the cases of long Covid, these patients who still present symptoms weeks, sometimes months, after having contracted the virus.
Some of them indeed develop a form of chronic fatigue, a syndrome that she knows only too well.
For her, it is therefore "vital" not to catch this virus.
Sophie will also have no other choice but to isolate herself at her home, in Lorraine.
The 42-year-old mother will have to "show off her feet" if she wants to celebrate Christmas as planned.
Her youngest son, 7, has cancer.
Doctors will only allow him to leave hospital temporarily if his family members self-isolate a week before December 24 and test negative for Covid-19.
The decision to withdraw the eldest son, 11, from college on Thursday was therefore taken a long time ago.