Cell coverage while driving in and between Normandy, Brittany, Loire, Burgundy

You wont have any cell coverage problem in France 99% of the territory is in 4G or 5G.

In my opinion the biggest problem will probably be your AT&T bill if you use the internet.

Note that you can have a prepaid SIM card in France with Orange (the leading French provider) from €20 for 2 weeks with 12GB of data

https://boutique.orange.fr/vitrine/carte-prepayee-orange-holiday-europe-en/

As for the GPS signal, it comes from the same satellites as those you use in the US, it has nothing to do with the mobile network

I just used an Orange Holiday Europe eSim for two weeks traveling in the Dolomites region. It performed almost flawlessly. There were a couple of times that it took moments to get a signal. Otherwise I enjoyed being able to call and text in addition to the generous data allotment.

I would recommend downloading the maps for the areas you will be in so you can access them offline in Google maps. If you don’t have service, you still have access to the maps. https://blog.google/products/maps/google-maps-offline/amp/

@JoLui The international day pass with AT&T is $10 a day with a max of 10 days in a billing period and gives me my same plan, which invoices unlimited voice and data. Not quite as cheap as getting a local number, but much more convenient, especially since I need to give my number well in advance to hotels, tour guides, restaurants, etc.

My sister and I are in our 70’s and rented a car in France this past April. To be fair, we have always rented a car in France preferring the flexibility vs relying on trains and buses. We picked up our car at Charles de Gaulle airport.

One would think getting out of the airport would be a daunting task - we used Waze for navigation. Between the clear audible directions and huge directional signs, we did not have any issues. For the duration of our three week trip we primarily used the D roads ( yellow on your printed map) and occasionally used the smaller white roads ( not recommended if you are a timid driver ). The A routes are their equivalent of freeways and will charge tolls. They should only be used for a fast drive from point A to B. The D roads will provide the beautiful scenery.

We always bring printed maps as a back up. They come in handy when you want a further out picture of your destination vs the screen. Teach your 13 year old how to read a map. Also teach him/her the euros (Google photos of currency and coins) and put them in charge of paying tolls. You can also use credit cards but sometimes they just do not work at the toll booths. Cash always works. Keep your cool if someone honks at you.

Read up on the road signs ahead of time. The most important one is a red circle with a white line through it - Do Not Enter.

I used the AT&T International plan and did not have any connection issues.

Keep your sense of humor and enjoy the ride!

A few more thoughts-

There are lots of You Tube videos about driving in France. Here is one to get you started and he does a good job of covering gas stations and Autoroute toll roads.

https://youtu.be/pBlLwB4S8WY?si=OKdS1gPCTzh6CkRx

Many rural gas stations are closed on Sundays. Just plan ahead and fill up when convenient.

One Saturday after a long 7 hour drive we were in Apremont-sur-Allier looking for a gas station to fill up for our Sunday drive. The first station was out of order but had an attendant who said his internet was down which was why he was out of order. He suggested another station down the road. The second station was closed. We decided to jump on the Autoroute where we knew we could find gas. That solved the problem.

A few points:

1. Learn the speeds for different road types. In France, speed limits are largely standardized by type of road; consequently, the number of speed signs is less than in the U.S. As with so many things in France, you're just supposed to know.

2. Learn the principle of "priorité à droit" and associated signage. Not much of an issue in big cities, but in small towns and in the countryside it can save you a collision.

3. Remember that whenever you enter a town (white rectangular sign, red border, black font with town name) the speed limit immediately drops to 50 km/h (unless otherwise marked). There often is no indication of this other than the sign with the town name. The speed limit goes back up when you leave town (white rectangular sign with town name and border in black, with diagonal slash in red).

4. The least expensive fuel for cars is almost always at supermarché or hypermarché fueling islands (look for names like Intermarché, E. Leclerc, Carrefour, Auchan, Casino, and Cora). Some or all of the pumps at these are set up to let you pay by card at the pump, so no attendant is necessary and consequently they're always open. Conversely, the most expensive fuel is almost always at Autoroute "aires" (kind of like an American truck stop but much nicer). Autoroute fueling is convenient, but you'll pay dearly for the convenience.

As for cell coverage, it's generally good throughout most of Normandy. You can use a tool such as the map at this link to see coverage and look for "zones blanches" (literally, white zones which is the name for areas with no cell reception). The zones without coverage aren't really shown as white, more as a light pink. I confirmed this because a friend living near us has poor to no cell coverage at her house, and sure enough, when scrolled in sufficiently I can see that her property is within a light pink zone. Take it with a grain of salt, though. A town south of us had a cell tower erected and energized earlier this year, which provided cell phone reception for the first time in the town. On this map, it's still shown as light pink, meaning the map is somewhat dated.

Even with an international plan, as a backup, download Google maps for offline use as travel4fun mentioned.

Ensure you have a cable to plug your phone into the car since using it for navigation will use a lot of battery power. Also, as the new EU standard is USB C, many newer cars only have USB C ports. I ran into that issue in Spain in 2022 and my USB 2 cable was useless. The car I had in France and Germany earlier this year had USB 2 ports, and the car I had in Spain in September had both USB 2 and USB C ports.

With regard to fuel and Sammy’s comment about Intermarché stations. It does have inexpensive fuel. However, I did come across one in Portugal that did not accept credit cards of any type. It was strictly cash only, so check before you begin pumping. Using a card at the pump has been an issue in the past and other than a Costco in Madrid I’ve always had to pay inside.

Hi all -- sorry for delay in responding. This is all such good and valuable advice. Thank you so much! I am going to get my international drivers license and study up.