# It can happen in France too !!



## 106573 (Aug 20, 2007)

Carrying on from the recent Spain & Portugal thread, here is a tail of caution for those of you travelling France this year. I pride myself with being alert and observant when driving abroad, having heard and read the many incidents other people have been unfortunate enough to have experienced.
I am ex-Forces, trained in Martial Arts to black belt 2nd degree, and keep my self in reasonable shape (for my age anyway) I also thought I had worked out in my mind, how I would respond if I was ever "Compromised" Whilst driving abroad in the MH. Well what do I know ??
Last year we dropped off the midnight (Sea France) ferry into Calais, and decided to push on for a couple of hours south.
We had just passed through Laon on the N route, it was now gone 0200 and we saw lots of young people in the town, my guess is the night clubs had just "kicked out"
As we left the bright lights of the town I became aware of a droning noise, which seemed to be following us. I kept an eye on the rearview mirrors and sure enough two headlamps appeared about 50 yards behind and gaining !!
The drone got much, much, louder.......and suddenly the headlamps were amid-ships port side (left)............Bang (very loud) we are being shot at, or at least thats what it sounds like!!!
All my pre planning went right out of the window at that point, I did ALL the wrong things.
I pulled over onto the grass verge, by now we are in the middle of no-where and it is completely dark, I stopped, got out, ran round to the passenger side and could see we had aquired a bullet hole just above the fridge vent. Worse to come, I now realise the droning noise is the result of an old French car with a hole in the exhaust, and it has turned around and heading straight back towards me!!!
I can't believe what I did next, I stood in the middle of the road, and took up a basic Karate stance (stupid don't cover it) The car swerved around me at the last moment, and I just managed to catch a glimpse of what looked like two young "Toewrags" waving (what looked like) a Handgun.
And that Dear people is how easy it is to put you and yours in the most extreme danger.
I assure you, you will not know how you will respond to this kind of incident until you are in the "Eye of the storm"
We drove on all night and the following day, until we reached Sete on the coast not saying much. It took a few days laying on the beach etc, before we began to relax.
I never did report it to the Police, but I wont forget it and can only hope, if it ever happens again  I will do the right things, well thats the plan anyway......................
Regards
Tinhut


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## 107558 (Oct 10, 2007)

Very nasty. I hope you've completely recovered from the ordeal.

I take it the "Red Mist" descended on seeing the hole...


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## hilldweller (Mar 8, 2008)

Stupid - OK.

But damned impressive. You showed them up for what they are.


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## Dougle (May 18, 2006)

Hi

Travelling back to Calais last month, we were in open countryside i.e. just fields at either side. On the opposite side of the road we approached a small layby where two cars were parked. From the cars came four, but possibly up to six men [late teens or early twenties] who started waving in an attempt to get us to stop. Having read cautionary tales on this forum, we kept on going, as did another motorhome not too far behind. This was mid afternoon so not too frightening, but it does make you think. Strangely though, as I remember it, they were all dressed in black t-shirts and trousers.
Stay safe.
Dave


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## SpeedyDux (Jul 13, 2007)

Dave,

We had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago on the D137 heading south towards Bordeaux, not far from Blaye. There was a car in a lay-by with its bonnet up. A dodgy-looking bloke jumped out trying frantically to wave us down. 

Strange, because he had just ignored both French MHs that we were following. Neither he nor his car looked British. No way was I going to stop. I didn't see any accomplices but there could have been others in the car. As we drove past he went ballistic. 

SD


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## 106573 (Aug 20, 2007)

JQL,
You are right about the "Red mist descending. But I got the damage repaired to a very high standard, luckily a friend of mine has his own Auto body shop repair and paint shop. Funny thing is, we never found the actual round, just a lead residue around the entry point.
Thanks for your positive comments all.
Regards
Tinhut


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*France Robbery*

Hello,

What type of gun do you think it could have been?.

My post on an incident in Spain has come back to life

See here<<<

I missed two parts out, the one before the first one which involved two young thugs and a Pitbulll in Gandia. And an embarrasing one just after the two in the post.

The Day After the Audi (incident number 2). A gentleman in a White VW T4 pulled along side waving and pointing. My co-pilot gave him two fingers and off he drove. A couple of miles up the road I realised one of the drop down lockers was open!.

Trev.


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## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Hi,

meanwhile it can even happen in Sweden! 8O 

Summer 2007, we had just rolled off the ferry in the morning in Gothenburg and were happily trundling along an almost deserted (in our direction, that is) E45 northbound. I had already noticed for some time that we had a car in our wake. Now that is nothing unusual so far. 

On a dual carriageway stretch this car suddenly overtook us, significantly exceeding the speed limit, and disappeared behind the next bend. Still nothing unusual, but nevertheless it caught my attention. The car was a slightly battered Lada with numberplate from some East European country, and two guys sitting in it. 

However, after the second next bend this very Lada stood on the hard shoulder, bonnet open. Passenger nowhere to be seen, and the driver was frantically trying to flag me down. So frantically that he actually jumped onto the outer lane. 

Only when he realized that I had absolutely no intention to stop, not even slow down, he went back onto the hard shoulder. In the mirror I could then see that he made some hand signs that I will not describe in detail here... :evil: 

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

This ain't nothing new. 
22 years ago this month I was travelling north about 15 miles south of Calais, between the end of the Auto Route as it was then and the town of Calais, at about 01.30 in my trusty Humber Sceptre with frame tent in roof box. Similar toe rags, maybe your guys fathers, threw a brick through my windscreen (the old toughened type) as they drove towards me in what I think could have been an old 2CV. The closing speed between the brick and my windscreen must have been at least 80 mph.
Result, 3 days weeks intensive care followed a further 2 weeks recovery in hospital in Lille followed by three months off work. The only reason myself and family were not wiped out was the fact that I was not renderer unconscious by the impact on the forehead and managed to stop the car while blind by 'the seat of my pants'. I still carry an eye injury to this day. My head injury was similar to that suffered by Peter Kaye, of Allo Allo fame when the timber post was blown through his windscreen in a storm.
Colin


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

Good morning all!

Twice in an hour, in France, we came across an apparently broken-down car, decent-looking, with well-dressed occupants, one of whom was jumping up and down, waving his/her arms with some vigour. I guess s/he was saying, "Please stop and help us!"

No chance! I drove on. Both incidents seemed so similar, the two groups could have been using the same manual!!


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## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Hi,

a similar incident some years ago in France: 

We had just entered about 2-3 kilometres into France after crossing the border at Breisach. (Now this is an area where car-related crime is not exactly uncommon.) On the roadside stood three cars. Two of them had the bonnet open, and several people, all male, were trying to flag down passing cars. 

A French car ahead of us slowed down, but then suddenly accelerated very hard and drove away. We were next in row. 

So I asked my wife to take her mobile phone and call the police. She did just that. While we were passing by - of course I had absolutely no intention to stop - the guys on the road suddenly realized that she was phoning. Immediately they slammed shut the bonnets, jumped into their cars, turned round and drove away at high speed in the other direction. 

I am not quite sure whether it was the mobile phone's electromagnetic field that miraculously made their engines work again... :wink: 

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

On a lighter note  

We have friends who are paranoid about getting "van-jacked" 8O Their van is secured like Fort Knox.

They were travelling on a D road in France and on entering a small town they were waved down by a scruffily dressed man in a very dirty condition. 8O The wife screamed "Don't stop go on" at the last moment they realised the man was a workman who was assisting a large truck to exit a building site.

No damage was done but it took them some time to repack the contents of the van. The workman just about evacuated his bowels on seeing a large motorhome bearing down on him. 8O 

So bear in mind not everybody waving you down means to harm you.

Safe travelling.

Don


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## androidGB (May 26, 2005)

I can't understand why you didn't report the incident to the police. I mean being shot at is a pretty serious offence in any country.

Also what about the bullet, I would have thought any half decent handgun would have the capacity to go straight through a motorhome and out the other side. In which case the repairs would be quite costly and i would have thought the insurance company would have required a crime no. or equivalent.

Or perhaps it was a air gun, still serious but somewhat different.



Andrew


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Note*

On A completely different note.........

I recently posted details on here regarding a driver who slammed on in-front of me in the UK. When you tell people, for example my wife, the circumstances, I guess they often find it hard to imagine.

Well,

A couple of weeks ago we had stayed at Alpes Dauphiné campsite near Gap. The party consisted of Myself, My Wife, Threee Daughters and their boyfriends/partners. We headed into Gap to buy fuel and were cut up a few times and a couple of drivers very close out in-front of us.

We called in at the Service Station and when exiting the station onto the 50kph road, I carefully checked it was clear before I entered the road. There was a Maroon Peugeot 307 a good 100 yards away from me and it was clear to go as he was traveling at normal speed.

Suddenly I was aware of a blarring horn and said Peugeot dancing around between the two side mirrors. I had forgotten about the rear view camera I had fitted and my daughter shouted "turn the camera on" from the back. I did and there was the Peugeot, almost on the bike rack. Getting a bit fed up I blarred my air horns and continued at 50kph.

After a while I think the Peugeot driver managed to free himself from the bike rack as he undertook me on a slip road joining from the right and then as he came in front slammed on 2 - 3 times. I managed JUST not to hit his rear end and continued at a very safe distance until we hit the toll booth for the Autoroute. Lucky for him he managed to get away from the barrier before I did, otherwise I would have stopped and unleashed my now very irate 7 passengers onto him.

A long conversation ensued "Arrogant French B******" "A******* F******** you get the picture. I suggested that the Peugeot driver probably saw my passenger in a world of his own and assumed he was the driver and never gave a moments thought that it was a RHD. Then in a moment of red mist decided to try and alert LHD passenger with blarring horns. Of course by this time all the French are doomed for life by the newcomers to French holidays and as such are all now tagged as Rude Arrogant B*******. But it happens here in the UK too as you may have noticed.

Speaking of Arrogant Frogs, here is one I can happily recomend

Arrogant Frog < Click here The Organic Ribet Red (Cabernet - Merlot) has to be one of the best Languedocian wines I have tasted.

Happy Travels,
Trev.

PS I think the silliest thing tinhuttraveller made was not to report it to the Police. I know time is short on holiday but making reports regarding guns could prevent further incidents.


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## hmh (Jun 25, 2008)

Having lived in France for the past 25yrs I just don't recognise any of this. Not that I'm doubting it at all, just haven't experienced it. Other than the time my minibus was stolen around 4.00am from in front of my hotel!
My experience then makes me think that tinhut wouldn't have found an active copper if he'd tried. We were told when we finally contacted the police around 05.30 that nothing could be done there and then but "come into the station from 08.30 and fill in the form" Needless to say we never saw the bus again.
But firearms are a different deal and would have been taken very seriously but - first find your copper.


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## SpeedyDux (Jul 13, 2007)

Trev,

That sounds like a typical French road rage incident. Some French drivers cannot abide a foreigner pulling out in front of them, or overtaking them. 8O 

I had a similar incident a while back on a near deserted D road. The French driver HAD to re-overtake me at all costs. He then stopped his car about 200 metres in front of me, blocking the road, so I stopped, ready to turn round and head off in the opposite direction if I had to. You never know if the Frenchman might be armed. At the very least I could see he wanted to correct my driving manners.

He drove off again, slowly, waiting for me to follow and then stopped again. So I stopped too, about 200 metres behind him. We repeated this pantomime 3 or 4 times until he gave up and sped off. I turned off this road as soon as I could and found another route, to avoid any ambush he might have in mind.

Still, you can get road rage anywhere - I once had to do a swift U-turn at traffic lights in Bristol when a white Transit van stopped ahead of me and 3 large blokes stepped out carrying what I took to be pickaxe handles or baseball bats. I'm not sure why they were upset but I wasn't staying to debate the merits of their complaint.

SD


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## 106573 (Aug 20, 2007)

Hi All,
Yes I do agree with a couple of the posts here that I should have reported the shooting incident to the Police, but in my defence, it was gone 2a.m in the morning, middle of nowhere, and I was just greatly relieved that my present wife or myself for that matter, had not suffered personal injury. 
Somebody else was asking "what type of weapon" did I think it was? I spoke to a friend of mine who also happens to be a Policeman (yes he did kick my backside for not reporting) He thought it most likely to be a "Gas powered Airgun" taking into account that it had penetrated the outer skin of the M H, but not passed all the way through. 
As I said in my original post, nothing other than the hole was found, the Guy who repaired it said, what ever it was, was probably stuck in the insulation of the M H. He repaired it for cash, I did not want to involve my Insurance company ether to loose my no claims, or face answering awkward questions.
Hope this clears a few points, but feel free to "Fire" more questions/remarks if you need to (excuse pun)
Regards
Tinhut


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Bullet*

Had this been my post I would have popped a Photo on of the bullet hole.

Trev.


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## hymerowner (Sep 10, 2006)

Are we talking urban myth here?


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## Mike48 (May 1, 2005)

When I have more time I might tell you what happened when I nearly had a fight with two French policemen and threatened them with a wheelbrace. I can't believe my behaviour even now.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Last year we were flagged down by a young lady, smartly dressed in a nice sports car. For a couple of miles i ignored her.
She indicated to leave the road and kept pointing to the left and flashing her brake lights.
I pulled in at the next service station at Grantham to discover i had left a locker undone and had lost some spuds apples and stuff. Good job we were going on hols not returning it would have been full of wine.

Dave P


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Been there done that*

M62 few years back, off away to the east coast for a weekend, had a free demo of what was then the new and first batch of the Mercedes ML's (GT Elephant). Lots of envious looks and people who would not let us out at junctions. I had to make a swift lane manouver to avoid a careless driver. Few moments later the other driver came up the side of me waving and pointing. I did the usual hands up dont shoot me it was unavoidable, sorry. He kept on waving and pointing with up with his left fingers, so in the end I lost it and gave him a few back, he drove off shaking his head ...................

A mile or so later someone else did a similar thing, Because................ the roof box had popped open and slices of Warburtons bread were flying away over the cariiageway from our weekend stash. 

Trev.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

So it was you    

Dave P


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## stevee4 (Oct 12, 2007)

*Red mist tooo*

Whilst running back to Le Harve from South of France, last year we were parked up in a town centre car park billed as an Aire. 1 am we were woken loud bang on the van. Instantly I jumped out of the van stalk naked in my best wild man pose shouting at the night as the boy racers disappeared into the night. They had thrown a 2L water bottle at the van. What I was going to do to them in the nude I have no idea. We packed up and moved didnt get to sleep till 4am. 
That was the only problem in 3 weeks


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## time-traveller (Apr 23, 2007)

*Re: Red mist tooo*



stevee4 said:


> Whilst running back to Le Harve from South of France, last year we were parked up in a town centre car park billed as an Aire. 1 am we were woken loud bang on the van. Instantly I jumped out of the van stalk naked in my best wild man pose shouting at the night as the boy racers disappeared into the night. They had thrown a 2L water bottle at the van. What I was going to do to them in the nude I have no idea. We packed up and moved didnt get to sleep till 4am.
> That was the only problem in 3 weeks


No, Dave P .... it was HIM 8O


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