When French tourists get in trouble abroad
We take a look at some random misdemeanors that have landed French tourists in hot water in the past...
A French hitchhiker who flew into a rage after spending four days unsuccessfully trying to thumb a ride out of a small New Zealand town pleaded guilty to criminal damage.
Cedric Claude Rene Rault-Verpre admitted destroying road signs out of frustration at being stranded in the South Island tourist destination of Punakaiki for so long.
Bemused locals in the tiny settlement of less than 100 people accused the tourist of acting like a "spoilt millennial".
Four French siblings steal from Pompeii
Three brothers and a sister were seen in mid-October picking chips of plaster off a fresco in Pompeii, prompting other visitors to reported them to site security, who called the police.
Police searched their rucksacks and found pieces of fragments from frescoes.
The group was charged with aggravated theft and now staff at the site are working to establish which of the painstakingly restored and expertly curated 2,000-year-old frescoes the pieces belong to, so they can be put back in their rightful place.
(A fresco inside the Forum baths at Pompeii. Photo: Steve James/Flickr)
Two Frenchmen fined for burning quokka
An Australian court fined two French tourists AUS$4,000 each in April for animal cruelty after they burnt a quokka, a small native marsupial, on an island off the coast of western city Perth.
Western Australia police alleged that the men had "ignited an aerosol spray using a lighter, causing a large flame to make contact with a quokka" while they were on Rottnest Island, singeing the creature.
The quokka, classed by the government as "vulnerable", is a small wallaby and resembles a diminutive version of the kangaroo.
(Photo: Malcolm Brown/Flickr)
In August last year animal rights organisation PETA offered €12,500 for any information that would lead to the identification of the man, presumed to be French, who was seen cruelly booting the animal off the edge of the canyon.
“It is imperative that any community facing a sadistic and violent act such as this one, takes measures to find the culprit or culprits and bring them to justice," said Daphne Lacroix, spokesman for the association in France.
The video of the shocking incident, has gone viral around the net after being posted on YouTube, with thousands of web users expressing their disgust at the act.
The hunt to find the culprits focused on France with the two men involved in the clip heard speaking French to each other.
In the latest incident to hit headlines, three male French tourists were arrested by Cambodian authorities for taking nude photos of each other inside the country's famed Angkor temple complex.
The trio were discovered inside the Banteay Kdei temple at the world heritage site on Thursday, according to a spokeswoman for the Apsara Authority -- the government agency managing the complex.
Frenchman arrested for scaling Brooklyn Bridge
Last November a Frenchman was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing after he was caught scaling the Brooklyn Bridge, apparently to take photos.
He was arrested after jumping a fence and climbing up a beam on the famous bridge that connects Manhattan and Brooklyn.
'Drunk' French tourists in Oz bring shame to France
Aussies may be known for being larger-than-life characters – friendly, boisterous, and not afraid of a beer or two. But the French are also fast growing a reputation for having one too many.
In 2013 France's consul-general in Australia was forced to issue a plea to French backpackers, saying their rowdy, rude and drunken antics as well as reported shoplifting is bringing shame on the country's community in Oz.
French tourists caught kissing Buddha statue
Three French tourists, including two women and a man, were caught taking photos of themselves posing with Buddha statues in Sri Lanka, with at least one of them pretending to kiss one of them.
They were given a six-month suspended sentence and a small fine for "insulting religious feelings".
Frenchman caught having threesome in Pompeii brothel
It’s said to be a common fantasy: having sex in Pompeii’s former red-light district, which is decorated with explicit frescoes. Last August, a Frenchman was caught mid-orgy with two Italian women in the Roman town and subsequently arrested. “They don’t understand the cultural value of the frescoes at all,” a tour guide complained to The Local at the time.
Semi-clad French tourists fined for dancing in priceless Roman fountain
What is it about Italy and French tourists? In October last year six French tourists were once again in hot water with Italian police when they were caught dancing in a fountain in the Italian capital.
Dressed in nothing but their underwear, the six tourists, aged between 18 and 21, were filmed late at night as they danced and splashed about in the priceless sixteenth-century fountain. They were each fined €269.
You can see a video of their dancing below.
And the prize for the naughtiest goes to…
Gérard Dépardieu is arguably as well known for his filmography as for his exploits abroad - or in one case mid-flight. In 2011 the film actor was caught short on a Paris to Dublin flight and chose not to bother going to the toilet to relieve himself. The Frenchman later justified his actions, claiming he had actually been trying to urinate discreetly into a bottle when he splashed a plane's carpet and caused a flight delay.
Last December the actor, who is notorious for his gargantuan appetites, has claimed that he once killed and then ate two lions while on a trip to Africa.
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Four French siblings steal from Pompeii
Three brothers and a sister were seen in mid-October picking chips of plaster off a fresco in Pompeii, prompting other visitors to reported them to site security, who called the police.
(A fresco inside the Forum baths at Pompeii. Photo: Steve James/Flickr)
Two Frenchmen fined for burning quokka
“It is imperative that any community facing a sadistic and violent act such as this one, takes measures to find the culprit or culprits and bring them to justice," said Daphne Lacroix, spokesman for the association in France.
The video of the shocking incident, has gone viral around the net after being posted on YouTube, with thousands of web users expressing their disgust at the act.
The hunt to find the culprits focused on France with the two men involved in the clip heard speaking French to each other.
In the latest incident to hit headlines, three male French tourists were arrested by Cambodian authorities for taking nude photos of each other inside the country's famed Angkor temple complex.
The trio were discovered inside the Banteay Kdei temple at the world heritage site on Thursday, according to a spokeswoman for the Apsara Authority -- the government agency managing the complex.
Frenchman arrested for scaling Brooklyn Bridge
Last November a Frenchman was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing after he was caught scaling the Brooklyn Bridge, apparently to take photos.
He was arrested after jumping a fence and climbing up a beam on the famous bridge that connects Manhattan and Brooklyn.
'Drunk' French tourists in Oz bring shame to France
Aussies may be known for being larger-than-life characters – friendly, boisterous, and not afraid of a beer or two. But the French are also fast growing a reputation for having one too many.
In 2013 France's consul-general in Australia was forced to issue a plea to French backpackers, saying their rowdy, rude and drunken antics as well as reported shoplifting is bringing shame on the country's community in Oz.
French tourists caught kissing Buddha statue
Three French tourists, including two women and a man, were caught taking photos of themselves posing with Buddha statues in Sri Lanka, with at least one of them pretending to kiss one of them.
They were given a six-month suspended sentence and a small fine for "insulting religious feelings".
Frenchman caught having threesome in Pompeii brothel
It’s said to be a common fantasy: having sex in Pompeii’s former red-light district, which is decorated with explicit frescoes. Last August, a Frenchman was caught mid-orgy with two Italian women in the Roman town and subsequently arrested. “They don’t understand the cultural value of the frescoes at all,” a tour guide complained to The Local at the time.
Semi-clad French tourists fined for dancing in priceless Roman fountain
What is it about Italy and French tourists? In October last year six French tourists were once again in hot water with Italian police when they were caught dancing in a fountain in the Italian capital.
Dressed in nothing but their underwear, the six tourists, aged between 18 and 21, were filmed late at night as they danced and splashed about in the priceless sixteenth-century fountain. They were each fined €269.
You can see a video of their dancing below.
And the prize for the naughtiest goes to…
Gérard Dépardieu is arguably as well known for his filmography as for his exploits abroad - or in one case mid-flight. In 2011 the film actor was caught short on a Paris to Dublin flight and chose not to bother going to the toilet to relieve himself. The Frenchman later justified his actions, claiming he had actually been trying to urinate discreetly into a bottle when he splashed a plane's carpet and caused a flight delay.
Last December the actor, who is notorious for his gargantuan appetites, has claimed that he once killed and then ate two lions while on a trip to Africa.
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