Why did the traffic police get a bit sniffy if you did what was legal,they like to see it broken up in parts,and not like to see 4.30 with no stops,no fine for it,but a lot of old timers would always say this when getting a “controle”.
Customs would ask where the starting and finising places were on the tacho,any diversion on the route,you may have some explaining to do.
Most of them would know the routes in europe,if on a camping or caravan holiday,and would know if any funny business was going on.
They get sniffy because they are French and they can.
They can’t fine you for doing it, because the law says you can do it. It doesn’t say you can’t.
If you want to max out 9 hrs driving, you want to do 2 x 4.30, you don’t want to be mucking about with fitting any extra breaks in. They’ll just have to live with it, you’ll just have to accept that they’ll get sniffy.
If you want to max out 10 hrs driving, I’d break it down into 3 shorter drives totalling 10. Maybe 3.30, 4.00, 2.30 for example. Not necessarily in that order. I’d try and time my breaks to avoid the worst of the traffic through the major cities on my route to maximise milage.
You didn’t have any explaining to do for Doanes, for deviations off route. France, like the UK, is a free country. You can go where you like, as long as you don’t break any laws while doing so (like going through a 7.5t weight limit). You might have some explaining to do for your boss though.
As for where they go, or what they do on their holidays, they are free to do what they like. It’s got nothing to do with you.
My experience of Le Flics was very different to yours Toby, they never worried about what was on the tacho, in fact if the coffee money was handed over at the start, they never wanted to look at it anyway 
I found the French to be quite reasonable actually, shaking hands at the start of things meant that you would be paying very little, if at all. Now I know things have changed since then, but as long as you’ve not broken any laws, there’s SFA they can do about it 
I worked alongside blokes that were paying fines every trip and had emptied their wallet of coffee money before they reached Paris, they’d be the ones who had problems at customs because of paperwork not tallying or whatever and you could almost guarantee that they’d be called in for a full turn out back in Dover. They also used to get weekended far more than most people too, maybe you’re one of that lot Tobes 
the best thing about the french version of tacho regs, is they arn’t too bothered about the total driving time, as long as you show plenty of breaks. i usually stop for an hour every 3 or 4 hours. you can drive 10 or 11 hours every day, and they’re happy. fare does, they do you for something else though. but not tacho related.
Limey that is correct,over ten hours,with plenty of breaks seems to be ok,always open the cab door,offer to shake their hand,speak a bit of French does wonders.Looking for a restaurant is the trick.
toby1234abc:
Limey that is correct,over ten hours,with plenty of breaks seems to be ok,always open the cab door,offer to shake their hand,speak a bit of French does wonders.Looking for a restaurant is the trick.
when they ask if i speak french. i usually reply in fluent french. “no sir, i’m not very good at speaking french, can we try english please”.
they usually crack up laughing.
the handshake is a very important cultural thing, set off wrong and disrespectful, and kiss goodbye to your wallet.
Things start to go wrong if you do not wind the window down,or do not open the cab door,like you said its bye bye to the cash,i would get controlled by the Douanes up to 3 times a week,and have a good laugh,make jokes,the Douane boss would be a heavy set women in charge.
Two motorbikes with the blue lights going,being escorted up the road to an X ray machine,would get the car drivers thinking,what the hell is going on,it is just a routine check.
Years ago,it was mainly the border points where you would be stopped,now it is any where,any time,at times where you do not expect them to be.
Defo about driving 3 hrs then a break , police didnt care how long you drove for as long as you had plenty of breaks