Can I chauffeur a passenger to the south of France during coronavirus lockdown?

Simon Calder answers your questions on chauffeuring in the time of coronavirus

Q As a chauffeur, am I allowed to drive a passenger home to the south of France as they can’t get a flight for nine days? If so, will it be as easy for me to get back to England on return?

Shaun B

A Without wishing to deprive you of a no-doubt lucrative gig, I urge against this whole notion. For a start, I am not sure where your client is searching for flights, but I would commend British Airways. Through the coronavirus crisis, BA is flying near-daily from Heathrow to Nice (and even offering bargain £43 one-way fares on 12 and 14 April to the city serving the French Riviera).

If that is not convenient, there are also daily BA flights serving Lyon, Geneva and Paris – from where trains are departing to destinations such as Avignon, Marseille and Montpellier. (Some are leaving direct from Charles de Gaulle airport, but for most it will be necessary to travel in to the French capital and take a train from the Gare de Lyon.) Eurostar provides another possible route, with a daily train from London St Pancras to Paris Nord.

Your passenger is allowed to enter France if they are French, or a UK national who normally lives in France and is returning to their principal residence. They must complete the necessary “attestation” from the French authorities confirming that their travel is an absolutely necessity. This is a document that can be downloaded from the internet and must be filled in before the journey.

Were your client to decide that Shaun’s chauffeur drive is the only way to go, there are regular shuttles through the Channel Tunnel from Folkestone on Eurotunnel to Calais. But I am not sure that the French frontier police who are stationed on the Kent side of the channel would see the merit of a chauffeur-driven journey to the south of France when so many other options are available. But in the unlikely event you were let in, there would be no problem returning to the UK.

Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder