Russian stars and wealthy heirs spent their winter holidays at ski resorts. But not in Russia, but in France, which is closed to tourists from our country. - about who was there, what happened to them and why getting to France during a pandemic is easy, but expensive. France reopens its borders to tourists from the UK, which were closed to them on December 18, 2021 due to the spread of the omicron coronavirus strain. According to a Times source, this could be done "within a few hours."
The decision to return travelers from the UK is due to the fact that during the winter holidays there were not enough British tourists in the French ski resorts - because of this, the tourism industry operators suffered serious financial losses. Skiline.co.uk, a company that organizes tours to ski resorts, has made an official announcement in the hope of restoring the tourist flow from the UK. We expect the French government to issue a statement on Wednesday confirming that vaccinated British tourists will be able to enter France starting Saturday.
Officially, tourists from Russia cannot enter the ski resorts in the French Alps either - entry into the country for tourism purposes is not yet available for citizens of our country.
However, in January, Instagram was filled with photos of our compatriots taken in Courchevel, and the general director of the travel agency "Business Ocean - Travel Club" Inessa Sauh, who went on vacation to Val Thorens, wrote on Facebook: "France is closed to Britain and Russia - only Russians are on the mountain and English speech!
Telegram channels that chronicle high life reported who was seen at the famous ski resort, which still remains a symbol of success and dolce vita.
“There is a shift change in Courchevel today: the French are leaving the chalet, our people are checking in. On January 2, the Russian season officially starts here, ”wrote the Tatler-Butler channel. According to him, producer Yana Rudkovskaya, the star of The Bachelor Victoria Korotkova, businesswoman Zhanna Shamalova, heiress to a large fortune Diana Manasir, founder of the KM20 concept store Olga Karput, designer Natalya Yakimchik and other heroes of gossip columns had already arrived at the resort by that time.
Later, Yulianna Karaulova, Olga Buzova and Klava Koka began to post their photos on Instagram, as well as Ksenia Sobchak, who did not mark the location, but the fact that she was also in Courchevel was evidenced, for example, by a picture of businesswoman Irina Volskaya in the company of a TV presenter and a video recording of singing with Grigory Leps. However, in stories she did not hide that she was at a resort popular with Russian secular society, although she condemned vacationers.
“To be honest, I don’t understand this happiness, to come to the mountains and from three in the afternoon already drink in some Le Cap Horn,” Sobchak said.
In her opinion, it is much better to spend the whole day in the mountains, return to the room exhausted, go to the sauna and lie down on the bed with a cosmetic mask on your face.
At the end of the holidays, Telegram channels began to warn that celebrities who had rested had contracted COVID-19, presumably the rapidly spreading Omicron strain. The channel "NEBOZHENA" collected a whole list of those who should not see their friends yet - it included, in particular, stylist Natalya Goldenberg, blogger Milana Koroleva, Yulianna Karaulova, Natalya Yakimchik, Olga Buzova and Klava Koka - but the list was far not complete.
It is noteworthy that the Tatler-Butler channel, at the beginning of the season, recalled how in 2020 Courchevel vacationers indiscriminately suffered another infection - rotavirus. “Many heroes of Tatler took into account the experience of 2020, when the infamous Courchevel rotavirus penetrated every third chalet,” the reader was informed. - They eat mostly at home - they say that the pandemic and the outflow of tourists have not taught restaurant staff to wash dishes more thoroughly. No one needs unnecessary problems against the backdrop of a raging omicron.” Eating at home did not help protect against coronavirus in the end.
Along with celebrities and rich heirs, bloggers, entrepreneurs, models who are not among the "heroes of Tatler" rested in Courchevel. As it turned out, getting into officially closed France from Russia is not so difficult if you know the workarounds.
“You need to have a valid Schengen visa and vaccination with any European vaccine,” explained Dilya Demidenko, head of tours at Travelbelka. “It is also possible with a residence permit in France or any other European country, by business invitation, or the easiest option is through Hungary.”
According to Dili Demidenko, the easiest way to get to any Schengen country is from Budapest - “even with Sputnik V”. “According to the experience of my friends, from one European country to another European they do not check the grounds for entry, and the Russians are quietly let through,” the expert said.In order to use Budapest as a transit zone, many people purchase business invitations, pretending to fly for work when crossing the border.
So, blogger Marina Fedanova, who flew to Courchevel via Italy, spoke in detail on Instagram about such a workaround for traveling to Europe.
“The most important thing is a business invitation. It costs differently everywhere, but I made it for €200 for the whole family,” the blogger wrote. When crossing the border, Fedanova was worried that they would not believe her, because the whole family was on the trip, including children and a nanny, but she was not asked questions.
Marina Fedanova warned that not everyone is so lucky - and perhaps the border crossing went smoothly for her family, because she ordered a VIP escort. At the same time, in front of her eyes, “40 people were not allowed on the flight, since they all flew on the same invitation with skis.”
bbabo.Net