The term “booze cruise” means something different over in England than it does in the States. There was a trend in the eighties and nineties, something that died down in the aughts but is recently picking up again, of Britons boarding ferries for day-trips across the English Channel for the sole purpose of buying bulk wine and spirits at superstores in the French coastal town of Calais. As exchange rates have gotten more favorable again for the British pound against the euro, the boat traffic is picking up again, and more Brits are heading to France on the weekends to “fill their boots” with bargain bottles, which can be had for as little as two pounds apiece, versus five and up for cheap wine in England. Alas, Trader Joe’s hasn’t made it over there yet. [UK Telegraph]
