French port information, please...

[Euro Cruiser]

I'd like to collect information on cruisers' experiences with Customs (Douan) officials in French ports (France only, not dependencies) and would welcome anyone to post their answers to these simple questions below in this thread:

For ports WHERE YOU WERE BOARDED (or where you otherwise had formal contact with Douan officials):
1. Which port(s)?
2. When?
3. What if any issues were raised by the Douan official(s)?

(I'm hoping to assemble a loose list of which French Provinces present more/fewer difficulties to non-French yachtsmen, if not to dispell rumor then at least to illustrate it. While there are yachtie-unfriendly issues like Spain's 'wealth tax' or Greece's difficult-to-predict cruising fees, the biggest unknown I hear about is how a given French customs official in a given French port will react to a non-French boat. Thus, this request for info).

Thanks!

Jack

[Talbot]

Probably better putting this request onto a UK forum such as www.ybw.com and select forums and then Scuttlebutt. There are a lot more chanel hoppers on that forum!

[Euro Cruiser]

...but in truth, yachties who are EU citizens and on EU boats (such as the Brits) have their own issues with French Customs and will not be the primary source of info I'm trying to collect.

Let's just let this thred percolate a bit and see what if anything it produces...

Jack