Hello, I'm Simon Calder, welcoming you to my independent travel podcast, bringing you the latest news on travelling, whether you're just dreaming of a great escape, as I am, or away and having the time of your life.

Now, that wasn't careless handling. This is me looking at a map of France and just wishing I were there.

Yes, of course along the coat d'Azure, maybe the Gulf de Lyon and the wonderful cities of

Montpellier and Pepignon.

Or of course, at any time of year, Paris and the French Alps looking,

oh, so lovely, looking to the west, the beautiful coast along the Atlantic shore.

And, very simply, I would be happy to niff across the beautiful Dieppe

very first place I ever went abroad but I can't so I'm going to put my map down

and talk to you instead about what is going on with France

because I've been doing a lot of work during the day on Wednesday in order to try to find out what the flipping heck is happening.

I have been getting, obviously, lots and lots of comments from various people in the travel industry.

Great excitement about France opening up. Keeping tabs with people in the travel industry, great excitement about France opening up, keeping tabs

with people in Paris about what the French government might be deciding, and we were very much

of the mind that the Macron administration would be lifting the ban that has prevailed since, can you believe,

the 18th of December, which is coming up to the four-week mark. And it is desperately disappointing.

France, as you will probably know, is absolutely awash with the Omicrom variant of coronavirus,

which is the reason that the UK was originally banned.

A lot of people at the time said it was futile.

The World Health Organization, of course, says that it is not necessary,

but the French went ahead with it anyway, and that is

where we are. Now, I was expecting it to be lifted early in the new year at my usual health

morning, which shows that I am woefully over-optimistic, having all the way through the pandemic

...