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But after they convinced him to join them on an overnight trip to buy cut-price tobacco, the father, who has never left the UK before, managed to get through checks at Dover, France and as far as Belgium without a passport.
He was stopped by customs officers on the return journey at Calais, and was forced to go to Paris to the British Consulate, and to fork out £99 for a temporary passport.
Shawn said: "I'd only gone out for a couple of quiet pints with my pals at the local pub.
"They told me they were going to go across to Anderlecht in Belgium to stock on tobacco.
"Apparently you can legally buy 60 packets and that would last me the year for a faction of the cost of the price in Britain.
"They asked if I wanted to go along and I thought 'why not'.
"We planned to do an over-nighter, as a bit of an adventure. I just remember laughing a lot and my friend who wasn't drinking drove us down to Dover.
"I must have fallen asleep when we got to the port because the next thing I knew I woke up and was in France and we were on the way to Belgium.
"I thought to myself it was strange no one had asked me for my passport because I don't actually have one. I just thought because we were in Europe you don't need one.
"We went to a 24-hour hypermarket and filled up with tobacco and were coming back when I got stopped at Calais.
"I was shocked when they told me I had to go to Paris to fill out the forms for an emergency passport but I had no choice."
Shawn was hoping for quick passage back to the UK but as he was born in Germany his situation hit further complications, with officials ordering him to stay a week while they checked his nationality.
After his brother wired him cash, Shawn managed to survive on breakfast croissants and fast-food meals at McDonalds.
He added: "I don't want to see Paris again, although it is a beautiful city.
"It was an expensive hangover but something to tell the grandkids about."
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