This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Peter Ricketts

Ambassador to France from February 2012 to January 2016.

Part of UK in France

5th August 2013 Paris, France

Tips for Britons on holidays in France this summer

Lacanau Beach - South West France - Credits: Azotte - CC BY-SA-3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Lacanau Beach - South West France - Credits: Azotte - CC BY-SA-3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

We are now in the summer holiday season, and an amazing 17 million British people come to France every year. We want everyone to have a happy, successful, relaxing holiday. And for that there are one or two tips which I would offer to everyone planning a holiday in France this summer.

Written version (continued):

First of all, do the sensible things to stay safe. On the roads, be careful, stay within the speed limits – over 3500 people are killed on the roads of France every year.

If you’re swimming, do be careful to swim in supervised areas. In July alone, we’ve had more than 90 people who have drowned in France.

Also: keep your passport safe. It’s a very valuable document, of course we can help you with getting a new one if you have it stolen, but it takes time and it costs money. So do keep it safe, and do fill in, on the back page, the next of kin details.  Almost nobody does but it could, one day, be important.

And make sure that you are insured, that you have your European Health insurance card (EHIC) before you come. Again, if anything happened and you needed medical assistance, that would help you a lot.

And to stay in touch with what’s happening in France, do go on our Twitter account @ukinfrance or on our website. We will try and keep you up to date with any information that could help you to stay safe and have a wonderful holiday.