Who on earth travels in the middle of the pandemic? Aren’t borders closed?
Us. And yes… but no.
Mark just passed out on the TGV a few minutes after the train left Paris Montparnasse—I told him to sleep in the plane but watching the latest Pokemon movie was a priority. I’m sitting next to him and I’m both exhausted and relieved because it’s the last leg of the trip that started the day before. Feng must be sleeping as well but that’s because it’s only 7 a.m. in Canada. He couldn’t come with us, he is busy working on the next deadly virus in the lab-basement… just kidding, don’t call the cops. He isn’t with us because this trip was complicated, that’s all.
Everything is tricky this year, isn’t it?
“I’ve just bought two tickets for a plane that isn’t flying yet but may eventually go to a country which borders are still closed,” I emailed my mom mid-June. “Just a desperate move.”
I called the next day, overwhelmed with bittersweet joy to tell her that maybe, we would be coming to France this summer after all.
It wouldn’t be the perfect careless summer trip I usually look forward too. But again, it’s not exactly the typical year.
“So, what makes you anxious?” my mom asked.
“Air Transat resumes flying on July 23,” I explained. “But Canada strongly discourages international travel and borders are still closed here and in France. Technically, I can probably enter France and re-enter Canada because I have valid French and Canadian passports. Mark is French too, but as you know, he doesn’t have a French passport because applying from Canada is a headache—we would have to go to Toronto for that. As for Feng… well, obviously not a French citizen. There’s a lot of fine print floating around, like if Mark and Feng travel with me they should be let in as my child and spouse. But it’s a non-essential trip, so who knows.”
“The European Union announced it plans to reopen borders to a list of safe countries. I’m hoping Canada will be on it—I mean, it’s a pandemic but Canada is doing okay overall. If we’re not on the list, good luck finding ten or fifteen ‘safer’ countries. And after all, Air Transat is scheduling Canada-to-European Union flights this summer, so the company must be confident enough travelling will be okay by then.”
“Now, on the practical side—there’s no guarantee the plane will actually fly, especially if it’s half empty. Anything could change in either France or Canada. Also, Greyhound didn’t resume operations so Feng has to drive us to Montreal, which is one of the reasons why he isn’t coming. Oh, and we don’t have to quarantine in France but we have to self-isolate in Canada upon return.”
Add some social stigma—“you should stay home!”—, security and health measures, and complete uncertainty and you’ll understand why I was stressed out before the trip.
And then there’s another side of “unreal”—the fact that France is recovering from the lockdown and from being one of the epicentres of the pandemic. On a more personal note, the fact my grandfather is no longer with us—if feels unreal to me.
We’ve heard about COVID in my family. My sister caught it in February—always an early adopter—and recovered about a week later. My papi caught it too and passed away in April.
I’m not stupid or in denial. France is doing much better but the virus is still around. Canada isn’t doing too bad but the virus is still here too.
But it’s a now-or-when moment.
Technically, I could have travelled to France in April, when my papi died. I checked—a few planes were still flying and my French passport would open me the closed French border. But France was still under a draconian lockdown and the situation was dire even though the Western part of France was relatively spared compared to Paris or the eastern region. Besides, I would have been coming after the battle. I’ve already spent weeks feeling helpless during daily phone calls with my mom.
I stayed put. It was safer for all of us.
By the end of May, it was becoming clear that we were in for the long run. The Canadian border would stay closed for a while and since reopening agreements are usually reciprocal, I had little hope France would let us in.
I tried to explain the issue to Mark.
“I have a French passport and you’re technically French but you don’t have a passport and daddy isn’t French at all.”
“We’re not Brazilian and we still went to Brazil several times,” he noted.
“Yeah, well, travelling is usually a lot easier.”
“I want to go to France though. What should I do, take a French test?”
If only…
And then things got a bit better in Europe. Restrictions were lifted, dealing with the virus became more or less a personal responsibility. Canada is being very cautious considering the situation in the US but collectively, “we” did better than expected back in March.
Going to France isn’t a constitutional right, plenty of immigrants don’t see their family every year and plenty of travellers put travel plans on hold. I get it.
But there’s no guarantee the situation is going to be better a month or six from now. I’d rather go when the border is officially open to Canada, when the weather is nice and we can spend time outside. We don’t have a big social circle in Canada—no relatives except my in-laws we barely see, few friends we hang out with regularly.
This trip is unreal and I’m ridiculously stressed out… but it looks like we’re going, anyway.
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You made the decision, now make the best of it! I’m sure you will. For your sanity 🙂 Enjoy friends and family and have fun with Mark!
Mostly a handful of relatives, I don’t really have any friends left in France 😉 (Which is also why and how we lower risks, no big family gatherings for us!)
Make the best of it, even in the very strange and shitty state of this world ! (my French passport had expired… I’m unsure if I need/want to renew it — the Canadian one is still good for a while and I have not plans to travel for a while, plus the French consulate in Toronto is a 4-hours drive away for us).
I renewed my French passport in Nantes four years ago using my parents’ address. There’s no way I can do it in Toronto, also a four-hour drive from Ottawa. I mean, you have to go twice in person… which is why Mark doesn’t have a French passport (yet).
There is no consular service at the French embassy in Ottawa ???
Nope, it was moved to Toronto a few years ago :-/
I’m so happy for you that you landed and on your way to your family. Despite the first akwardness, it will soon feel good for you to be in your hometown with your close ones. And apparently, Mark wanted to go too!! Enjoy your summer “nantais” !! 😀 Can’t wait to read about your trip!
It does feel good and weirdly normal in a way. How is your corner of France doing?
It’s fine here, except we wear masks! But like everywhere else now!
I do feel there is a certain slack down since mid-June in particular during family reunions. I am afraid that this virus might touch close and weak ones… But once I’m reunited with them, I also forget about it because I’m so happy to see them! It’s difficult to manage both distanciation and love (which goes with a little carelessness!). It is all “weirdly normal” to be together, as you wrote! (nice oxymore)
I keep on noticing large family or friend gathering in Nantes and it makes me nervous. But I’m not judging because after all, who am I to judge? It’s easier for me in a way because I’m seeing a limited number of people (not extended family) on a regular basis. That said, I see my mamie all the time and I tried to keep my distances at first but it’s impossible (and heartless). So we’re all taking risks, whether we like it or not.
Exactly. And we “choose” who we put at risk, on top of that! That’s really messing our heads up. So, we’d rather not think about it but keep this guilty feeling in a part of our head and I guess it will resurface when someone we know will be contaminated… and we won’t like it for sure.
This perspective (which is also mine!) is probably the safest way to stay sane.
Great for you ! I hope you are enjoying your stay in France 🙂
So far so good!