Quote:
Originally Posted by Numer0_6
The border patrol (Douaniers, they are the ones with the red stripe on the side of the pants) can do whatever they want, they are allowed to search your luggage and you by themself, they don't need an "officier de police judiciaire". Don't try to be smarter than them, they can make your life a nightmare of unpacking, repacking and unpacking again, and repacking and so on...
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Interesting that you should mention the Douaniers.
Whilst riding in France last month, I was stopped by three Douaniers who were all riding BMW motorcycles. I had just disembarked from a ferry from Ireland, and I guess they saw my Canadian licence plate and wondered if I was a legitimate tourist or riding an illegally imported motorcycle.
Anyway, within the first few minutes, I showed them my Canadian passport and explained that I had just got off the ferry. They asked to see the papers for the motorcycle (ownership, etc.), and I opened the pannier to get the papers out, but when they saw that I would have to dig through all sorts of stuff to find the papers, they said "don't bother, that's OK".
The three of them then spent the next 15 minutes chatting with me about where the best roads to ride in that area of France were. Eventually, they wished me well and headed off down the road.
Without a doubt, they were the most polite and friendly policemen I have ever encountered while travelling.
Michael
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