What can you take to France?

[Francis_374353316]

Hi we are taking the caravan to France next week this is the first time we have been abroad with the van. I was wondering if there is any restriction on what we can take with us eg can we take across our own beer/wine and is it alright to stock the caravan fridge with food before we go. Not to sure if there are things that you cant take. Any advice would be welcome

Many Thanks!

 

[lukebfox]

Hi Francis

We normally take some wine and a small amount of food with us and never had any problems with the wine to my knowledge you can return with 200 liters of wine per adult so i dont see why a few bottles on the way out would be a problem, however wine is fairly cheap in france so why bother pull the extra weight take a few to get you started and get it there when you settle.With regards to the food i normally plug thr van in overnight before the ferry and fridge can normally maintain the temperature running on the car battery, if you are on a short ferry it shouldnt be a problem mabey leave in a few blue freezer blocks or if like me you have a long ferry 15 hours from ireland if you ask in advance you may be able to get a hook up on the ferry ive never had a problem with that and it saves a bit of money if you have food prepared for the drive and dont have to feed the family at the motorway services and also that you have some food and fluids with you in case you arrive on site after the shop has closed. Hope this is of some help and im not 100 % sure of the legality of bringing wine so i may stand to be corrected but i dont think there could be much issue with a handful of bottles.

happy travels luke

 

[LesleyRussell]

We normally take one or two bottles of wine and a few beers to tide us over til we get to the shop. If you are sailing on a Saturday you will probably wait til the Monday to go and do your shopping when you can stock up with plenty of reasonably priced wine, beer and don't forget the Normandy cidre. If I remember rightly you are going to Le Cormoran. There is a good shop on the site from which you can get any necessaries and there is a large Super U just over the cross roads in St Mere Eglise on the industrial park. We usually take some tinned stuff, cereals, biscuits, tea, sugar, coffee, cakes and crisps. You may wish to take something to pop in the oven on the first few nights i.e. a large shepherds / cottage pie / pizza. We take some packed sandwich meat with a good life and also cheddar cheese which you cannot get easily over there. Other than that we usually wait until we get there to stock up on fresh fruit and veg (I think you will notice the difference in taste), fresh meat, milk etc. There are a lot of interesting things on the deli counter and the fish counter is good. Of course you have the french cheeses and fresh bread daily. You may wish to take some long life sliced white bread for toast but as a similar alternative you can try Harrys' American sandwich bread in the supermarket. There is a market in St Mere Eglise on Thursday mornings - this should not be missesd or in Carentan on Monday mornings. Take concentrated juice for any children (i.e. Robinsons if this is what they like) as you cannot get it easily over there.

 

[chrissie2]

A few years ago, when we had the Foot and Mouth epidemic here, there were, at least in theory, strict rules about what you could take into France - no fresh milk or other dairy products, no fresh meat, etc. Even then, we were never stopped and interoggated, let alone the fridge or cupboards searched, although we did try to abide by the regulations. At present, I don't think you will encounter any problems with any products that are legal in the UK. In economic terms, it only makes sense to take enough to see you through the first day or so, or items which are hard to come by in mainland Europe.

 

[DeliDave_]

We are there at the moment,wine and beer are the only cheap items.We took bacon and sausage as the bacon here is either lardons or very streaky.Heinz beans are available but pricy.Fresh veg and fruit is very tasty from the markets.No customs checks at Tunnel on way out just waved through,gas check only.

 

[ValA.]

We take one bottle of wine - so that if we don't find an open supermarket or wine shop we have a bottle for our first night - after all wine is cheaper, generally, in France. We don't take beer - it's cheaper in France too.

Meat and poultry prices have risen recently, so we just buy a smaller quantity, and eat less of it! Fish is about the same. Fruit and vegetables are much more 'seasonal' than here - so if peaches are in season then they may be very cheap, but if not then you'll probably pay quite a lot more. I take everything we've got left in the fridge, and this year took quite a bit more than normal as we were on a bit more of a strict budget! I froze a lot of stuff, and packed one of those square coolbags with frozen things, including litre packs of orange juice which stay frozen for ages. This way you can take some home made meals with you for the first couple of days, too.

 

[JoannaLesley]

We usually take just enough to tide us over the first weekend until we can get to a supermarket on the Monday. I usually keep a few cans, such as cassolet and tuna, as well as a bit of pasta and rice in the van, so that we can make do if we need to.

Otherwise, we buy as we go and, on the whole, eat like locals. Why would you want to take bacon and baked beans? Surely a large part of going to France (or anywhere else in Europe for that matter) is to try the food!

Jo

 

[RayS]

Another interpretation of 'what can you take to France' is 'what will UK security check allow'. On our last three trips the van has been searched - but not very expertly - outbound in UK and questions asked about knives etc. This can be quite irritating as obviously you have knives and other shrp implements in the van - not many of us eat with our fingers these days - and you need one or two sharps to fillet fish and cope with French beef. We have friends who have had Sabatier cook's knife confiscated - one wonders what happened to it subsequently - I would guess it was not destroyed.

Because the check takes place during the boarding process you feel constrained not to argue too much and risk missing the ferry - which would be your problem not that of the ferry company.

When I said 'not expertly' none of the UK security people or their French counterparts looked under our fixed bed. If they have to do it, I would expect them to do it properly.

 

[ValA.]

Quote: Why would you want to take bacon and baked beans?

Not the baked beans, but there's nothing like a Baguette de Campagne (with rustic flour) filled with some slices of nice well done smokey bacon and a lovely tasty cooked French tomato - it even brings the Dutch sniffing around our tent when I make one occasionally for breakfast!

 

[Arrow1]

Francis, you should be able to take anything that's legal.. can't take guns, explosives narcotics etc.. common sense.

Having read comments by others, I must agree, we take bacon and sausages for a good hearty breakfast, but then eat local produce. I love their sausages but the wife is more fussy about her bacon.. France does not seem to have bacon like we do !

From a practical angle.. you can get excellent quality food there, well worthy of trying.. could save a fair bit of towing weight. fresh milk is available in supermarkets - plastic bottles with a blue top is semi-skimmed.

We too take a bottle of wine for the first night, but then buy-in.

As far as being checked at customs.. (touch-wood) we have never been checked going out, Dover Port nor Eurotunnel and have crossed three times a year for the past seven years.

Coming home, expect to be boarded by UK border control.. situated in France. Generally, they are looking for illegal passengers, not contraband, and usually the check takes only a few minutes.. cupboards, toilet and under the beds. You may also be searched when you arrive at Dover, but seems they know who they are looking for at that point.

PS - French baguettes are far superior to our efforts, but will dry out in two days. Take a baguette storage bag and they last nearly a week.

Richard

 

[NickinFrance]

Living in France & visiting the UK 5 or 6 times a year we have shopping pretty much down to a fine art & about the only things we bring back are Catering packs of bacon & boxes of crisps both from Makro.

We find most food at about the same price in both countries, although there are exceptions like shellfish which is much cheaper in France.

Arrow, if your baguettes take 2 days to dry out, they are not baguettes, a real baguette will dry out in a couple of hours which is why they have 3 or 4 bakes a day & they are open fairly late.

I've knocked fence posts in with 2 day old baguettes.

 

[DeliDave_]

We take baked beans because its our holiday for us to eat what we like the post was about what you can take not to rubbish other peoples eating habits.We also take a TV and sky.