Quite agree with Pete247, if your headlamp glass has an 'angular' section just tape it over, test it out on a garage door (or simular) at night. I've used black electrical tape in the long distant past.
Yep. The expensive shop 'beam benders' don't stay stuck on for long in my experience. If I'm taking the ferry I usually ask for a GB sticker, stick it on the back and use the remaining sticky bit to block out the raised part of the beam. Works as well as a beam bender if you ask me as I can't tell the difference when the beam is diverted.
Not sure how the police abroad would react if they were having a bad day, but you could say it has "just fallen off" and you were trying to get to the nearest garage to fix it.