french police scare the crap outta me
Ah, there is police and police. The scruffy looking ones in white cars are the police. They are local guys and tend to be OK so long as you don't do anything too silly or claim to be leaving town. The proper Gendarmes wear blue and the DeGaulle-pillbox hats. They work for the central government and used to view their role in life as smoking while looking cool and watching the local boys. They've been given a kicking in the last few years and made to do some work, so they do now act like police. Either way, if you met them in a professional capacity you'd come away many francs/Euros lighter. Now the chaps in your photo are the CRS. They are a sort of riot squad but you get all sorts of variations for different special roles, usually with paratroop boots, SAS style uniforms and automatic weapons. They are recruited from lads who were too nutty to get into the foreign legion. You are right to be scared.
I first met the CRS or some such variation on the Italian border. They had a 50 cal (Browning?) machine gun set up in the middle of the road and were pointing at people to see if they were terrorists (or were bringing in Italian wine no doubt)! Now it's probably an English thing, but when lost asking a copper usually isn't such a daft idea. I asked one of the police/squadies if the next exit was the one I needed. Poor kid looked like he'd have a heart attack, did a huge double take to make sure the Sergeant wasn't looking, then whispered it was the one after. Can't decide if that's +5 for getting the info, or -10 for talking to people with lots of guns and other things on their mind.
Now if you want really good police Ireland's the place. The Garda seem a bit of a law unto themselves (they'll stop you if they like the look of the bike and fancy a chat), but are always brilliant for local information and seem willing to give out warnings rather than fines. A copper that says you have a great bike but need to take it a bit steady because his mate's in the next town with a speed gun get's my cooperation, no need for the heavy kit.
The cred points thing needs to be unbiased. If I went through life worry about stuid things I'd be in a padded cell by now. IMHO there are times when if you didn't laugh you'd cry.
Andy
