I think if the police were to show up, they would just tell everyone to leave, as they would have too much paperwork to process if they arrested everyone, so don't sweat it and have a good time.

 

Yep, the threshold to be arrested in France is very high. You need to kill someone, or do something really bad to qualify (unlike the US, our Judicial system in France likes finding all kind of excuses to the behavior of delinquent/criminals) . The prison sentences tend to be short, and once convicted you typically only serve half of it.

A few years ago:

A 17yr old was convicted of assaulting a Police officer with a baseball bat, He was sentenced by the Judge to write an essay on how respecting authority was important.

A French singer was convicted of beating and killing his girlfriend, we was sentenced to 8 yrs in Prison, and only Served 4.


So don't worry and enjoy your beach party, and also as a fyi, there is no such thing as bail money in France.

 

While I admit that the French police tend to try and limit their paperwork, you need to be aware of the current media climate wherever you are, too.

A couple weeks ago there was alot of publicity over these "instant parties" that were being touted on the Internet, where a couple thousand folks would turn up in a place for "apéros". The resulting parties lasted well into the night with lots of drinks flowing, and a couple weeks ago, some drunk party maker fell off a balcony at 2 am and died.

Since then, the police have been far more alert to these kinds of events and are relatively more likely to intervene - or even in some cases to prevent them getting started in the first place. It has been a couple of weeks since the big scandal, so depending on local conditions you may be ok. But if you see the gendarmes "hanging around" in the general vicinity of where the party is supposed to start, you might want to make other plans for the evening...
Cheers,
Bev

 

Many thanks for your replies.

There's likely to be 60 or 70 people there. In view of your comments I can't see that being a cause of concern unless it turns ugly, in which case I'll leave.

Many thanks again, party time.