French Country Travel Life Camera Caper – Part Two
(Author’s note: checking out PART ONE could make the following ” mo beddah”)
Ok – here’s the pulse-quickening second installment of my French Country Travel Life Camera Caper.
As two weeks dissovled into the start of three, still no camera. And to add to the free floating anxiety, my pals needed their apartment back.
Not to worry. Happily DA BG had more than one Parisian pal. Jean Michel was that one. A fellow “realisator” who offered me a couch to surf on until the “big day” arrived.
Curiously, it went down the very next am. When the morning mail brought the long awaited news that my ‘unit” had arrived. Just one (not so)tiny grain o’ sand in this otherwise pristine oyster. The French Customs wanted what I considered to be, an excessive amount of import duty. 700 Euros. Excessive for you too?
This for a used camera that cost $80 to repair, $50 to ship, plus $35 for a new battery. They somehow decided (a coin flip was my guess) that both items (camera and battery) were each worth 350 Euros. (At this time, worth waaay more than dollars.)
Obviously something was rotten. And it wasn’t in Denmark. Closer inspection of the dastardly document confirmed that the stinky fish was the advice of the French company who had shipped the camera. As a result of their “help” I had ticked the wrong box. The result: French Customs was charging me for a NEW camera. (and battery.)
While I don’t know for sure if “le douane” (French Customs) has the same powers as the IRS – a la – they can take and sell your house, car and teddy bear, then say “oh gee ..sorry …we made a mistake” and there is no “remedial action.”
But my quest for a non 700 Euro solution did confirm that if you don’t pay, they store your precious maguffin indefinitely.(Like certain American police store confiscated drugs “indefinitely?”)
However, unlike the no way josé IRS, you can file a claim against “le Douane.” That’s the good news. The bad is just what you’d expect.(Especially in a country where four out of five froggies are bureaucrats.) There is no time line obliging them to respond. Equally, no criteria as to how they arrive at their decision. Which is, bien sur, Final. (Can you say:” no appeal?”)
Bottom line: to say very few claimants are successful would be the height of overstatement.
Quelle adventure wot? Clearly my mantra here was :”can’t pay – won’t pay.” And, equally I was NOT going to try duking it out with le Douane. But, obviously, I had to have the camera. Yes, dear reader, “Rock and a hard place” time!
Without a doubt I needed divine intervention. And divine intervention I got. In the form of a delivery guy who was either: a) new on the job b)a few bricks short of a full load c) had other things on his mind. Because, while I wasn’t there, he delivered the goods without demanding the 700 Euro first! (Yes, there IS a dog!)
His company, predictably,squealed and howled. But it was, as I good naturedly reminded them – THEIR mistake. And you know who pays when you make a mistake dear reader. Do you not?
EPILOGUE: I did make my rendezvous with the Famous chef. Who turned out to be a total jerk. Insisting on doing our interview in French, although he spoke perfect English and understood my cinematic masterpiece would be viewed by English speakers. Takes all kinds to make a World, dunnit?
THROW ME A BONE HERE,PEOPLE!
What are ya thinkin’?
love the opening photo! grea
good that your story had a happy ending….(except for the chef, of course.)
with ya there siri!….and about the chef…as DA BG said…
“it takes all kinds to make a world.”
i have had a similiar experience wih french customs!…you would think they would be more sympathetic to a fellow european!
i agree 700 euro is a “bit” excessive. glad to hear the universe was on your side in this one!
wow!…talk about a close call!…..happily it all worked out!
i hear ya alison……what a nightmare that would have been!…famous chef….no camera….
true enough andy..but wouldn’t it have been cool, if DA BG knew in advance that the chef was a jerk?
gotcha bob…..sure..then there would be a lot less pressure for sure….but eventually he would need “the unit.”
one BIG dose of luck!….exactly when you need it!…amazing!
with ya there ellie……the gods were indeed smiling on DA BG that day!
very crazy these french people…..
another amazing adventure of DA BG! – and sin’t it the truth that when you rush and stress yourself out for something that you expect to be gold…it turns out to be lead? (like the famous “i’m a jerk” chef?
ian…you’ve hit the nail on the head with a 10 lb hammer!
what a nightmare!…glad to know youy got through it!
right on karen…and i’ll bet it wasn’t funny then……although it makes for a great story now!
marly..not to be patronizing…but if you look at any form of story telling…the best ones are where the nightmare situation is somehow miraculously avoided.
i would expect no less elegant a reply from anyone named “quentin.”
well spoken sir!
don’t know how you manage to get out of all these tricky situations
and then make a great story out of it!
me niether kalin….i would have just cried….A LOT!!!
i want to thank you for two things: another incredible tale of:from DA BG…and introducing me to brassai…..incredible images!
ditto from me dan!…..i had never heard of the guy either….so i googled him……and..you’re right on…totally amazing images!
fenton/dan…..with you guys 100%..and images from a bygone era of Paris…not only artistic..but fantastic documention!!!