Be Excellent To Each Other

An artist friend of mine has invited me to go to France and meet him at his exhibition at a convention in Paris.

I have absolutely no idea how one goes to France. D: I have rarely left the northwest! How can one go from Liverpool to Paris. If I can do it for less than £150 that'd be much acer.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Liver ... 856614!3e0

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Liver ... 856614!3e3

or

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Liver ... 856614!3e4

Drive, train and plane

Eurostar's nicer than an aeroplane but you'd need to get to London. Just like an aeroplane it's cheaper the earlier you book. If when you look Standard Premier is only £20 or so more, it's worth doing just for the nicer seats and drinks.

You don't want to go schlepping all the way to London. Far cheaper and easier to just get a plane from Liverpool.

Easyjet do John Lennon to Charles de Gaulle.

Oh, and what's the show? Or is this a cover for secret spy stuff?

Worst spy ever.

Do you have a passport? You'll need a passport won't you?

And don't forget your toothbrush!

You do indeed; so chuck another £70-odd quid onto the cost if you haven't already got one.

Picking random dates in January (because without any actual concrete info that's all I can do), Skyscanner tells me that Easyjet do direct flights from Liverpool to Paris CDG but the times aren't brilliant: 1830 out and 2035 back.

https://bit.ly/2Q0SdUz

ETA: the forum software does not like that URL at all, hence the code tags.

Art stuff! He's selling his own books and things, it's really exciting. I'm very happy for him!

To go to France I wouldn't need one (for the immediate present) would I? I got a passport but it expired before I even used it... Younger me was a very hopeful, foolish man.

The show is on 1st / 2nd Dec.

I appreciate all the advice everyone :)

WHOA. £61 flights to Paris? I never knew. And Virgin are asking £150 for a London return on the train? God damn.

Yes, you'll need a passport. We're not in the European Common Travel Area.

Yep. Can't leave or enter the country without one.

Technically not true - we are in a Common Travel Area with Ireland - though if you go there by plane the carrier will insist on a passport anyway.

So we agree

You can go by boat with just a drivers' license, so no

Can you then travel to France from Ireland without a passport?

https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgen ... ck-service

Fast track passport then. £152

I mean though, seriously, I can't help but feel this is not with the effort for you if you have this little idea about travel.

Some nights I stand on the beach and throw rocks at the isle of Man.

I used to fly to Dublin on my driver's licence. (Should have used a plane really...) But that was about 10 years ago now.

No, Ireland's not in the European CTA.

It's cool, just drive over

Technically you still can. But most or all air carriers will now reject anything other than a passport as their required proof of ID, so there’s a de facto requirement for a passport.

Print this over a sunsetty beach image and you'll have a wallposter for 'deep' teenagers.

Doc's not reading....six posts.

No, not on the dates that you've now actually provided; you're looking at £186 plus the cost of the passport you weirdly didn't think you needed.

Jesus dude, please God do some basic Googling before you do this trip because I'm a bit concerned with your level of knowledge that you'll wake up naked on a cargo flight to Kuala Lumpur with half your internal organs missing or something.

Remember that Paris syndrome is a thing.

I once flew to Ireland for work with an expired passport.

I only realised once I got there. I kept quiet and still managed to get home without anyone questioning it.

I traveled to Ireland the month my passport expired and they were all over me like a rash. How dare I travel with such an old passport!?

Were you wearing your kilt?

Hah

It was for work, which at the time, meant I was wearing a suit

MrD, if you get the chance, the Musée D'Orsay has a lovely collection and feels far less overwhelming than the Louvre. The big clock face with the view of Montmarte at the top is a brilliant use of space.

The Louvre is worth exploring: I just went in and ambled around seeing what took my fancy. I think I spent ages looking at a brilliant mosaic from the palace of King Darius.

I've never seen the appeal of the Mona Lisa and only glanced at it in the distance through a large crowd. The Delacroix nearby, however, were mind-blowing.

Driver's license here is one accepted as an 'internal ID', so getting in a government building, or while being searched, for foreign travel it is either a passport, or cheaper identity cards, that works from here to the uk (at least now https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpe ... teitskaart), don't you have such a thing i the Uk (as a cheaper option for MrD..

Will be flying to colombia next week for work, with the prime minister.. that will be interesting...

ID cards? Gosh no, that's why we voted Brexit to avoid all that malarkey.

That's totally carked it. I won't be able to get one in time.


That makes no sense. I've got to start somewhere, right?


I could aimlessly search with no frame of reference, yes. Or I could ask people who might know!

That second part is still highly likely.

Get a passport anyway! Travel! See the world my friend!

Pete proceeds to book a flight to yet another remote American town to stare at grain elevators and take photos of broken picket fences.

Isn't there a passport office in Liverpool? By James Street? Down here somewhere?

https://www.google.com/search?q=flights ... l+to+paris

Why would you Google flights from Liverpool to Paris if you had no idea that fights went from Liverpool to Paris?

Because you want to travel from Liverpool to Paris. And flying is a way to travel. So you'd check? I mean, unless you didn't know planes existed or something.

Also, I believe MrD's surprise was at the price rather than that flying was a thing (unless I'm misreading that).

Aren’t the issues more simple:

How do I book a flight?
What airport to travel from and to?
What information do I need?
What luggage can I take on?
What carry-ins can I carry on?
How much does it cost?
What’s a visa?
Will I need a visa?
How do I need apply for a visa if needed?
How to book a hotel?
How much will a hotel cost?
Can I use my phone?
Will I need a plug adapter for my electrical items?
Where to get a plug adapter?
How to get from the airport to the hotel?
What currency will I need?
Where to change my pounds to local currency?

And that sort of jazz?

Here’s a basic starter to help you along.

https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb ... n-holiday/

I used to admin another forum where people would ask questions and then everyone would be like "just fucking google it" and then soon there were no questions because people didn't want to be shouted at and then not long after there were no threads and then it died.

As long as the person asking a question is not being a dick, answer the question or move on to another thread.



(Obviously if they're being a dick, kill it with fire.)

I meant this trip wasn't worth the effort, due to having to get a passport in such short time.

Yeah. I know I shouldn't really be surprised at the bonkers price of UK long distance trains, but I always am. I had totally forgotten that the airports in Liverpool were a thing to be honest. They're just a name on a map - they could just as easily be to me towns named after airports that no longer exist (like a tower block surrounded by industrial estates might be called Pleasant Forest Tower). Flying from Liverpool to Paris just didn't even occur to me. Seems like too short a distance, but I have no frame of reference for these things!

Thanks for giving me a lot to read and think about Satsuma :)

I'm gonna renew my passport and hopefully be able to meet him on his next show.

Good luck to you! Once you're in Europe, a lot of the trains are much more reasonable, and it becomes a great way to get around. Especially if you get to the East.

A beginner’s guide https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/25/trav ... &smtyp=cur