Anyone have had any recent experience of bringing in packaged food from UK into France ?
I am going to UK and am planning to bring in some ready meals and frozen cooked food from Tesco/Sainsbury while returning. Will come back by Eurostar. Will it be allowed or will be asked to get rid off it ?
Eurostar or Eurotunnel? If Eurostar then yes it may well be take off you if more than can be reasonably eaten on the train.
Have a look at the Eurostar website, you need to be very careful.
Be warned that even if the luggage scanner doesn’t pick things up, the sniffer dogs can.
While you’re back, Bruce, did you manage to find chillies locally to where you live in France? Your thread about that is inconclusive.
I’m surprised you feel you need to these days as all the French supermarkets have so much in the way of prepared meals - fresh and frozen.
Haha you still remember that. I haven’t ventured out to buy any chilies yet. I normally buy them from the Sri Lankan grocery stores near Gare du Nord when I return from London. I visit London quite frequently so that is what I have been normally doing till now. Seems I will have to venture out to St Junien which is near me to hunt some chilies or go to Limoges, where the nearest Grand Frais is.
I did try some fare from the French superstores but they don’t have much variety, atleast in 87 where I live, and are super bland for my taste.
Ah, but do they have le hotpot Lancashire, le steak pudding aux rognons, ou le balti anglais?
heard from my physio that a Grand Frais is to open in St. Junien… sometime this summer.
just before Big Mat as you come from the 141
Update on my adventure. Just flew in from Stansted into Limoges. Loads of stuff, including a kg of finger chilies, from London, no meat products though, and sailed in without any questions . Eurostar might have been a different experience, I presume.
Will try Eurostar sometime but the ticket prices are triple of what I paid with Ryanair.
Our SuperU does a fine Tarte de Berger.
Book way ahead and it is much cheaper.
I use it regularly, “import” all kinds of stuff and have never seen a sniffer dog!
I have, Lille station while waiting for the Eurostar. Their GSD tracked down our picnic.
OH has met sniffer dogs several times at Gatwick airport.
Don’t keep us in suspense! Was your picnic confiscated?
To be fair, dogs don’t need special training to do that. Nor the sheep on Snowdon. And my cat would be a willing volunteer if the sandwich contained jambon cru.
I think this falls into the category of “I haven’t been caught yet so it must be fine”.
A bit like American photographers who reckon they can go and work anywhere in the world without bothering with trivial details such as work permits. 
Nor indeed the geese in Battersea Park. 
I used to have a quarterly meeting in York, and arrived early because Madame would drop me at the station. I’d head off to the park in York, my pocket full of hazelnuts, and I was the most popular person in the park (as far as the squirrels were concerned).
I’ve still got a video somewhere of them climbing my trouser leg to be fed.