Hello, it's Sunday the 18th of July and thank you for joining me for the latest on travel

and destinations from the Green List and the travel desk of the Independent. Today there is a French

flavour. I wish I were there. I was due to be and I'll explain why I'm not. The French,

meanwhile, have made access much easier for vaccinated British visitors,

and crucially, because I've had so many questions about this,

how the transit rules will apply for people coming back via France.

Of course, this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email, and you can sign up for that at independent.co.uk forward slash newsletters.

Today, I was hoping to be speaking to you from the fine French port of Dieppe, actually the very first place I ever went abroad on a school trip, age 13.

I was hoping to return there to celebrate the fact that from 4am on Monday the 19th,

then we will be able to return from Amber List countries, those of us who've been lucky enough to

be jabbed twice without having to self-isolate.

How marvellous, so I had my trip entirely planned.

I was going to be in Dieppe talking to you, then I was going to go to the fine city of Rouen

across to Cairns and to the port of Wistram for the very first sailing back from Normandy to

Portsmouth.

That was not to be, I'm still in South London.

But I wanted to look at how that decision came about.

You will recall that it turned out very late on Friday night that the government was worried about the

so-called beta variant. I just want to remind you what the Transport Secretary Grant Shaps

who decides these things said. On the 12th of May, the government's committed to giving people

the freedom to travel with confidence and supporting the wider

travel industry. Well, that's only hopeful. Five days later, of course, we were allowed to travel abroad

...