Sixteen departments and 21 million French people again switch to confinement 7 days a week from Saturday, March 20 and for
"at least"
four weeks.
These territorialized measures, announced Thursday evening by the Prime Minister, place under bell all the departments of Île-de-France (8) and Hauts-de-France (5), part of Normandy (Eure and Seine- Maritime) and the Alpes-Maritimes.
Read also: Covid-19: third wave, containment, AstraZeneca vaccine ... what to remember from Castex's announcements
In these zones, new restrictions such as the restriction of movement within a radius of 10 km - with certificate - and the ban on movement between regions are added 7 days a week to the curfew.
It will now start at 7 p.m. and end at 6 a.m.
This curfew, common to all areas (confined or not) is mandatory except for exceptions, for which it is also necessary to provide a specific certificate, wherever you are in metropolitan France, therefore.
Enough to further complicate leisure travel, as sunny days approach, conducive to weekend departures, but also spring school holidays.
The four weeks of confinement run until April 17.
On this date precisely begins the school holidays in the Paris region (zone C).
Schoolchildren from the academies of Lille or Rouen (zone B) will have started theirs on April 9 ...
Regarding leisure travel (holidays, trips, weekends ...) the questions are therefore many: can we continue to take trains and planes during the hours of confinement and curfew depending on the area?
Are compelling motives changing?
What about car trips?
Point.
Can we travel between regions for leisure purposes?
If you live in one of the 16 departments affected by the confinement
If you have planned a weekend outside your region or, more simply, more than 10 km from your home, you will have to cancel or postpone it.
Jean Castex said Thursday that
"for departments in confinement, interregional travel is prohibited, except for compelling or professional reasons".
These
"derogatory grounds", which "
allow travel during curfew and confinement hours, are listed on the certificates available on
the website of the Ministry of the Interior
",
specifies the ministry, contacted by
Le Figaro.
In addition to "professional reasons", "imperative family reasons", we also find
"rail, air or bus transits for long-distance journeys"
.
Does this mean that you can take the train from a confined area (Paris for example) to go to Bordeaux for the weekend?
A priori not to go for a weekend, if we follow the logic of the Prime Minister, and the logic that prevailed in confined areas like Dunkirk.
The wording remains imprecise.
Asked by
Le Figaro
, the ministry has not yet responded on this point.
If you live in another department
For travel between areas not affected by containment, no change: no prohibition.
But a recommendation to restrict his movements in order to limit the spread of Covid-19.
“Travel between regions is authorized,”
always specifies the service-public.fr site.
And the curfew starts at 7 p.m. from Saturday.
SEE ALSO -
Curfew at 7 p.m. and travel allowed "without limit of time within a radius of 10km" except between regions
To read also: What are the compelling reasons that justify a trip outside a confined department?
Is the train, plane or bus ticket still worth a dispensation?
The matter is further complicated.
In principle, having a train or bus ticket and having proof thereof is a reason for exemption.
In
a confined area
, it allows you to travel both more than 10 km from your home (to go to the station for example) and during curfew hours (between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.).
In
unconfined areas
, where traffic is not restricted, the ticket is an exemption during national curfew hours.
What are transport professionals saying?
The SNCF continues to indicate this on its website:
“If your train arrives in this slot, your ticket and your exceptional travel certificate may be presented.
In the departments for which confinement is in effect, particularly on weekends, if your train leaves or arrives during this period, your ticket and your travel certificate also serve as supporting documents.
Remember to bring both in case of control ”.
Note also that SNCF tickets remain 100% refundable up to 3 days before departure, until May 9.
Same thing, always, for plane tickets.
They
"are always valid for travel to / from airports during curfew or confinement hours,"
says Air France management at
Le Figaro.
To travel on weekends in the event of confinement, or after 7 p.m. in the event of a curfew, you will need to bring your train or plane ticket, on the one hand, but also a certificate.
On the latter, reason for travel n ° 7 must be checked.
The latter corresponds to
"journeys linked to rail, air or bus transits for long-distance journeys".
Failure to comply with this obligation remains punishable by a fine (€ 135 for the first offense).
But the distinction between zones from March 20 calls for rather subtle questions, not to say Kafkaesque.
If you live in
one of the 16 departments affected by the confinement
If you go to the station more than 10 km from your home and at 8 p.m. to take a Paris (confined area) - Bordeaux (non-confined area) train and leave for the weekend, you are leaving your region without a compelling reason. .
This is in principle prohibited for the next four weeks at least.
Question: is the derogatory reason for the certificate then applicable in a confined area?
A priori no, but, requested by the Figaro, the ministry has not yet responded specifically on this point.
If you live in another department
In these unconfined areas, going to the train station or the airport is possible, whatever your destination, in France or abroad.
If you go there during curfew hours, you must bring your certificate and proof of your trip.
To read also: "If I stay in Paris, I will have a depression": before confinement, the hasty departure of the Parisians
What about car trips?
Contacted by
Le Figaro,
the Ministry of the Interior indicates that
"a journey made by car during the hours of curfew or confinement must necessarily meet one of the derogatory grounds of the certificate".
To travel by car, the instructions therefore remain to organize themselves to circulate freely during the authorized hours.
With a particular constraint in
confined areas
: no travel longer than 10 km, and prohibition to travel outside his region of residence.
Can I pick up someone from the station or the airport after 8 p.m.?
On this question, the Ministry of the Interior answers in the affirmative.
For people coming to pick up a loved one at the train station or at the airport, regardless of the zone, you must bring a certificate marked with reason n ° 7, as well as a copy of the ticket of the person leaving or comes back from a trip.
