Base ball hats
Long sleeved shirts (to avoid burning)
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I initially read that as Baseball Bats but thinking about all the troubles in parts of Europe, thats not a bad idea!! 
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I work on the theory that they canât fine you for not having a breath tester, but as far as I can see you still have to have one, so for the sake of keeping it in the glove box (ND drivers note!) it will be easier to show a nice French police man that you have it than to have him march you off to the nearest place to buy one!
Also the whole spare bulb thing is a bit misleading, from lots of stuff I looked up when we first ventured across the channel its not actually necessary to have them in France, nor most other places. So never taken one.
And my favourite tip, beam bender things! The regulations are that you donât dazzle other drivers with your headlights that point up the wrong way for driving on the right, so if you donât drive after dark, you donât need them. My sticky benders have remained in the glove box, with the breathalyser, for every trip so far.
I think the most essential trip tip is to get over that channel and do it. The roads are far better, (maybe avoid Italy) much of the driving is better, (especially on French motor ways compared with ours) and driving can be a joy again, unlike over here where its rarely any thing other than a dreadful chore.
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On the subject of beam benders I am failry certain they would not work on an NBFL because of the type of lights fitted, the advice from Mazda is to set the beam height adjuster to zero to avoid dazzling on coming traffic, that certainly worked for me did not get flashed once in the two weeks I was recently in Europe. I imagine it is the same story for Mk3 and Mk4 though I stand to be corrected.
I regularly drive to Germany in my Mk3.75 (4-5 times a year) and did have one journey down the autobahn where I noticed at my destination that the beam benders were missing, I drove through some serious rain which must have washed off the eurolites plastic lenses and left just the glue behind on the headlamp! I have no idea how far I drove without them but nobody flashed. (Maybe taking a spare set might be useful?) I always carry a couple of spares but donât use them anymore, like Art_Tidesco I just turn the height adjuster down and would plead insanity if stopped and flash the spare set.
With the increasing use of LED lights that are part of a light unit rather than having replaceable bulbs it means that bulb kits are now an anachronism.
Our mk4 ND has adaptive headlamps which automatically dip when the camera detects vehicle lights ahead. I rarely drive after dark in said car so Iâm not sure how well they work. They are supposed to make stick-on beam adjusters unnecessary.
No ND models need any adjustment or âbeam bendersâ for foreign travel. Just have a look at your beam pattern in a garage door.
Thanks for the confirmation.
Absolutely agree! However, trying to explain that fact to an official if they donât speak English and the driver doesnât speak their language could be difficult. Probably better just to carry a random selection of orange & clear bulbs to avoid the hassle. Unless they demand you change the bulb there & then, they probably wouldnât know if they fit your car or not. Path of least resistance and minimal disruption to a journey would be my priority.
Donât know how old you car is but we took out NC2 (when we had it), to Europe including the Stevio Pass etc. Had a problem with the clutch on the way up! Turned out that the fluid was, in the words of the garage, âhydroscopicâ, we nursed the car back OK and once the fluid was changed - all was OK.
In my experience most european policemen speak a little English and those that donât have direct access to a translator so communication has never been a problem
Also modern policemen have direct access to all sorts of databases and technical information and donât like attempts to âfoolâ them.
Much safer to just carry the items recommended by the various motoring organisations 
Possibly, but I would imagine that the items recommended by motoring organisations are generic anyway rather than vehicle or model specific.
I wasnât suggesting that anyone should try and bluff their way if stopped, itâs just that many newer cars now donât have replaceable bulbs and those that do are often not easily changed at the roadside.
I agree and think that a policeman would be sympathetic if you didnât have replacements in those circumstances - probably more so if you have all the generic stuff (triangle, hi-viz et al) - and probably less so if you had a bunch of unsuitable or irreplaceable spares
Taking a spare set of plugs is for a different era! Iâd take Gorilla and self-amalgamating tape, but just a metre of each, not a whole roll. Coolant? Just use water, you can drink that as well! Spare fuses can be stuck anywhere so I would include those.
I cycled to Morocco once. I took a little puncture repair outfit but all I actually needed was a lot of water and cake.
Properly maintained the MX is a great candidate for taking you all the way there and back.without incident.
A road trip is easy to over-think.
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Sage advice! If you know your car, you should have an idea of what and what not to carry.
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