savageseadog
Well-Known Member
Call everyone Grenouille and you'll be fine
What will get me into trouble in France?
- Thread starter Babylon
- Start date
Tintin
Well-Known Member
Babylon
Well-Known Member
TSB240
Well-Known Member
A Blue will do
Posh eh!
Been in a group of boats visiting france. Friends boat was only one with a blue. Guess which one was inspected and chosen to be rummaged.
He now only uses his blue back home.
Now what's the French for Equality.
concentrik
Well-Known Member
Customs
Last year we travelled from Cherbourg to Hendaye. We were boarded twice by French customs, in L'Aberwrach and in Brest. The guys in L'Ab were very polite and friendly and just wanted to see our SSR and passports. We weren't asked for insurance or ICC or anything else. They showed no interest in the colour of our diesel or our stores.
They gave us a little slip of paper to say we had been inspected and wouldn't be bothered again but this cut no ice with the Brest customs who were quite different in their approach.
The Brest douaniers came on board mob handed - six of them - in their black overalls and poked into every space they could find. They rummaged around in all the clothing lockers. They searched the galley cupboards. They were fascinated by our HF transceiver and prodded all the knobs and dials. They pored over all the papers in the boat dossier. This close-up reading was a bit much for one of them as he began to feel sick and had to retire to the pontoon (we were moored alongside, in the marina). They questioned our American crewmember about the boat docs but although she spoke good university level French she couldn't help with translating things like insurance terms. Although she felt intimidated her USA 'citizen's rights' were asserted and she clammed up after a while.
They were aboard for an hour and a half. We think they must have been looking for drugs/arms but we had to disappoint them. Other boats on the same long pontoon were boarded but not searched - they merited only a few minutes attention.
Our yacht has a nefarious history but we couldn't see how they could have known about it and in any case the boat has been 'purged' by UK customs.
Apart from that visit we encountered only kindness all the way down to Spain.
If there's a moral to the story, I'd say it was that it doesn't matter how pristine your paperwork (ours was), if they want to make a fuss they just will.
Last year we travelled from Cherbourg to Hendaye. We were boarded twice by French customs, in L'Aberwrach and in Brest. The guys in L'Ab were very polite and friendly and just wanted to see our SSR and passports. We weren't asked for insurance or ICC or anything else. They showed no interest in the colour of our diesel or our stores.
They gave us a little slip of paper to say we had been inspected and wouldn't be bothered again but this cut no ice with the Brest customs who were quite different in their approach.
The Brest douaniers came on board mob handed - six of them - in their black overalls and poked into every space they could find. They rummaged around in all the clothing lockers. They searched the galley cupboards. They were fascinated by our HF transceiver and prodded all the knobs and dials. They pored over all the papers in the boat dossier. This close-up reading was a bit much for one of them as he began to feel sick and had to retire to the pontoon (we were moored alongside, in the marina). They questioned our American crewmember about the boat docs but although she spoke good university level French she couldn't help with translating things like insurance terms. Although she felt intimidated her USA 'citizen's rights' were asserted and she clammed up after a while.
They were aboard for an hour and a half. We think they must have been looking for drugs/arms but we had to disappoint them. Other boats on the same long pontoon were boarded but not searched - they merited only a few minutes attention.
Our yacht has a nefarious history but we couldn't see how they could have known about it and in any case the boat has been 'purged' by UK customs.
Apart from that visit we encountered only kindness all the way down to Spain.
If there's a moral to the story, I'd say it was that it doesn't matter how pristine your paperwork (ours was), if they want to make a fuss they just will.
Searush
Well-Known Member
I fear the biggest risk to you falling foul of the Frogs is to let them know you are English . . . 
Babylon
Well-Known Member
I fear the biggest risk to you falling foul of the Frogs is to let them know you are English . . .
Yes, they're terrible racists!
rob2
Well-Known Member
Usually the only thing that gets me in trouble is my attitude!
Yes, of course make sure you are carrying the papers you are required to, but try to make every conversation opens on a friendly basis. Not sure about Brittany, as such, but a few local phrases can be helpful. Years back our crew went into a cafe beside the Rance, which was about to close for the night due to lack of customers. The opening of "Salut, les gars" (vocabulary from Asterix books) encouraged the proprietor to stay open, cook us a meal and sit and chat with his private bottle of brandy on the table! He was amazed to find an English crew that knew HE was Armoricain.
Rob.
Yes, of course make sure you are carrying the papers you are required to, but try to make every conversation opens on a friendly basis. Not sure about Brittany, as such, but a few local phrases can be helpful. Years back our crew went into a cafe beside the Rance, which was about to close for the night due to lack of customers. The opening of "Salut, les gars" (vocabulary from Asterix books) encouraged the proprietor to stay open, cook us a meal and sit and chat with his private bottle of brandy on the table! He was amazed to find an English crew that knew HE was Armoricain.
Rob.
Bobobolinsky
Well-Known Member
jonic
Well-Known Member
Just don't upset the local fishermen
Mistroma
Well-Known Member
I think that you must have been just behind us. We met someone who said that customs guys had entered L'Aberwrach not long after we left (start of June '12). A customs boat dropped off a RIB full of MIBs when we were in Camaret a few days later. I wandered up to one of the guys in black and said (in French) that we were just leaving. He looked at the boat, smiled with "vous êtes écossais" and told us to just leave whilst he got to work on "les bateaux anglais".
I think that was the closest we got to a visit from any officials in France, Spain or Portugal.