Solo Driving in France

How do I find the location of gas stations and tolls along the route I am proposing?
Use www.viamichelin.com instead of Google for directions and you will get estimates of the cost of tolls for the your route as well as, in my view, slightly better estimates of drive time and fuel costs. Plus you can play with variables like avoiding toll roads or the type of car, etc. Did you have problems finding gas stations when you were the navigator last year? Gas stations are in most towns and are in rest areas along the toll roads. Disney is about an hour from Fontainebleu so no fuel worries there. Fontainebleu to Poiters is 3 hours so again no fuel worries there but you could stop in Blois. Poiters to La Rochelle is about 2 hours so again no fuel worries. If you have a typical French car with their excellent fuel economy, you will probably need to put fuel in car once.

You find gas stations by driving along until the idiot light comes on and then starting to look around. Don't plan something so simple or you'll go stark raving nuts.

The given answers are already clear, but as I was prepairing mine in the meanwhile I still want to add it.

As fuel is more expensive at gas stations along the tollroads is the first thing to do in the morning is filling up the tank in the place where you stay. With a filled tank a car with an everage fuel economy can cover at least over 600km and is way enough for the distances you propose in your itinerary. Almost every village has at least one gas station, so it won´t be a big challenge to find one.

If you have nevertheless to drive long distances over tollroads there is almost every 50km a gas station and are well indicated before with prices and distance and how far the next station(s) is (are). As according your plan is Fontainebleau to Poitiers with some 340km the longest distance, I think there is no real reason to be worried.

Thanks JHK! We had no problem finding gas stations but did have trouble using American credit cards. Thankfully all places we stopped were manned so we could pay in cash.
I just don't want to get somewhere and have no way to pay ie toll booths (there were some of those that wouldn't take our cards either) and gas stations. I will be prepared with cash, although I am looking into getting a chip and pin before I go.

You're joking, right Ed? I'd go stark raving nuts NOT knowing what to expect.

And thanks Wil, sounds like the car could practically make it all the way to La Rochelle without a gas stop. Although I will be sure to fill it up in Poitiers or thereabouts. I may do some random driving if I find something interesting along the way.

I feel like I'm taking on quite a task, driving by myself, but I think if I study the maps and know the toll stops and such, I will be fine. It will be so nice not to have to follow a schedule for transportation.

Has anyone done this before? Driven by yourself in France? especially not ever having driven in a foreign country before. I'd like your stories and advice.

Merci!

What Ed said, only I would start looking for stations at a quarter tank.
Let us know how this turns out.

If you have a gps, program it to show the gas stations and the distance to the closest one.

I've never used a GPS but I think now would be a good time to become familiar.

GPS can be very helpful, along with a good map. I'd think best to buy a GPS and get familiar with it here, before you go to France. You'll probably also have to buy a Europe map for it. Alternatively, you can rent one with the car but it'll cost so much that buying probably makes more sense -- especially if you plan to use it beyond this trip. It's no substitute for an actual human navigator, but then you don't have to accommodate it either.

Seems like your problem is really more about machines not taking your credit card. In my experience there's always a cash alternative, or a person who can take the card, for gas or tolls. You just have to look for it or him or her. You've driven in France before, and you're certainly driven solo in the US many times. Shouldn't be too complicated.

I'm with Roy, not Ed, re when to refill the tank. My wife even more so.

I think you will be fine driving solo. On our recent trip we drove 2500 km and got gas 4 times, and we never really needed to get gas when we did. Gas is expensive but we didn't use much -- cars are fuel efficient. Gas costs were low compared to hotels and restaurants. We always paid by credit card. One time the pump wouldn't work at a grocery store. I went inside for help and the manager (!) came out and found that pump was broken. It wasn't my card. I drove to another pump and chatted with the manager while I filled the tank. They want your business! It will work out!

We always paid our tolls with cash and never had a problem. Viamichelin website told me what the toll would be ahead of time so we were prepared.

The trick to driving alone is to be willing to stop and make sure you're going where you want. If not, turn around and try again. I really think you will be fine.

Once, my husband who is not at all panicked by having very little fuel in the tank almost ran out of gas in Marseille when the first two closest fuel stations that the GPs sent him to were nonexistent. That would not have mattered if he had started looking at 1/4 tank but when you start looking when you 1/3 of a 1/4 tank, then you have worries. Anyway, no need for you to worry about gas stations. We have driven almost 700 kilometers on one tank of gas in a Citroen Picasso five seater. If you are concerned just fill up every morning before you leave and you will not run out of gas before getting back "home" that night. I don't even try to pay tolls in France with credit cards after causing a delay at a toll booth on the road to Nice in 2013 and hearing the choice words some drivers had for us. Some toll road operators accept some of my cards and others do not but, of course, all accept cash. We just keep cash on hand and go to the lanes that are for cash payers.

Thanks everyone for all the great tips! Exactly what I was hoping for, along with some reassurance that I can do this. I know I can always find a place to stop and regroup if I am feeling lost.

I thought that some toll stations were unmanned. I think we even went through a few like that when we drove from Paris to La Rochelle. I think that the unmanned all took cash in the machines and gave change but just needed to verify that I was correct.

I have been researching all the interesting things to see from point A to point B and I'm so fascinated with all the beauty and history of this wonderful country. I know La Rochelle and Fountainebleau pretty well, having been there. Poitiers and area will all be new. I'm excited!

Get a GPS that works in NA and Western Europe and practice with it before you go. Must be programmed to work there. I just got back and it was invaluable. You should always top off on the Auto Route as gas stations are not easy to find in the rural areas. The GPS found them for us twice. It was also great at locating sights and restaurants. It was nice to just wander and get lost on day trips knowing the GPS would get us back to our B&B. Tolls are easy after the first one, just have lots of Euro coins and small bills.

Two years ago, I did pretty much what you're planning. I spent a month traveling around France by train and rental car (23 days of rental car) and drove from Colmar through Normandy, Brittany, down the coast to La Rochelle and back up through Loire Valley to Paris. Solo female, 67 yrs old, never drove in Europe before, no chip-n-pin card, no GPS, no navigator and had no major problems. Got a good Michelin paper map and I did have a small computer with me so planned the next day's route each night in my hotel room with help of viamichelin.com. Kept a bucket of coins in the car for tolls and only used manned gas stations. Unlike Ed I never let the fuel light go on in the car and kept the tank filled by stopping whenever I got below a half tank and there was a station convenient - didn't want to take any chances. Also I planned my day's drive to arrive at my destination well before dark so no driving around in a strange town trying to find my hotel. I got lost a couple of times but that was part of the adventure - also was involved in a multi-car fender bender (an adventure I didn't much like) but managed to get through it. I love doing road trips by myself and would do it again in a heartbeat. France was easy to drive in - learn the road signs, mind the speed limit, and don't risk driving after drinking. Have fun!

I applaud Nancy for doing a solo drive without a GPS! I drove solo in France for several weeks. I found my GPS to be invaluable even though I had reviewed the maps and the route in advance of heading out. I have a Garmin and found it led me astray only once and I think that was my fault. It was very useful for finding public parking lots once I was in town.

As a single woman I try to always fill up at 1/2 a tank. I want the security of being able to choose my fill up spot and time and to move on if necessary - at home or abroad.

I recommend using a GPS for solo driving - just get used to it before you leave and remember to enter the places you know you want to visit in advance so you can just select them instead of typing them in while en route.

Nancy and Shirley,
Merci beaucoup for sharing your solo driving experiences with me! That is exactly what I wanted to hear. That I'm not taking on a situation that I might regret. Like you both say, planning ahead is key to minimizing the problems that might come up.

I haven't decided exactly when I will be traveling, but will narrow down a few weeks next spring. My last two visits have been in May and we lucked out and saw no rain either time, although it wouldn't bother me. I'm from the Pacific Northwest.

We use a Garmin Etrex and we are able to program our maps at home on our computer and download the info into the Garmin. We did have to buy the Garmin Europe maps. We put in selected "way points" along the route we are going instead of just a departure and arrival address. I also use viamichelin to note gas stations along the route. By planning ahead at home you do become familiar with town names or sites along the way which does help in the navigation. We have been to France 6 times using this method with great success. Whenever we were in doubt we looked at each other and said "trust Monsieur Garmin"
We have never been to La Rochelle, I'll have to look that up and put it on our next trip.
Linda
p.s. make sure you pack extra batteries for your GPS.

I did have a scare trying to find the closest gas station once on a Sunday in a small town when the fuel light was on, but those worries were for naught, as the car did make it to the next town.

I did have a scare trying to find the closest gas station once on a Sunday in a small town when the fuel light was on, but those worries were for naught, as the car did make it to the next town. I would try not to put myself in that position again.

Many thanks to you too, Linda and Laura. By the time travel time comes I'm sure I will be familiar with the roads and stops along the way after doing tons of research. That's half the fun, right?
The more I learn about the route I'm taking, the more excited I get. I love to travel and visit favorite places and then add a few new ones into the mix.

I'm just wondering, how much French do you solo traveling ladies know? I'm trying to add some more phrases to my already quite limited vocabulary. I hope at some point it all just clicks.

My GPS once found me a hotel and got me there when I was unexpectedly alone at night, sitting in a dark car outside a hospital in a strange town in France. On top of it the town was full of one-way streets and bridges over a river in the middle. Long story, but the GPS was a life saver that night. So you can program it to bring up a list of the closest hotels, restaurants, as well as gas stations.

"I'm just wondering, how much French do you solo traveling ladies know?"

I, for one, know very little French (High School 50 years ago) - just the normal niceties (hello, good-bye, please, thank you, etc.) but I can recognize some words/phrases when printed which helped when driving around, usually can't understand them when spoken by a native. In larger towns and tourist popular places it was pretty easy to get by with just English. Every one of the places I stayed (hotels,inns,b&bs) had someone who spoke English to some extent so that was no problem.

Don't worry about you language skills. You will be fine. I have travelled in countries where I have spoken only a few words and things always worked out. Bring a phrase book if it makes you more comfortable. In this age of smart phones, someone will be able to help you out, even if you don't have a smart phone yourself. I find it's more fun if I speak the language so I just dive in, no matter how limited my vocab! And the nice thing about being solo is that no one you know will see you making a fool of yourself!

I agree, if you love driving you will be totally fine. I am a solo woman traveler and have rented cars on many euro trips. This summer i was in france and germany for 5 weeks...i rented a car when i left paris (my first nite was in fontainebleu too) and returned it to cdg 3 1 /2 weeks later. No GPS... Just really good regional maps, the most detail the better tho I'd have a France map too... Sometimes highway signs list the next town or one hundreds of Kms down the road. Be prepared to get lost, make lots of u turns , get frustrated.. Sometimes i get creative ... I take my map into a gas station and ask " ou-ay ici?" And in sevilla and latvia i paid a taxi to follow it to my destination. Big city driiving sucks but i've also occasionally parked my car and set out for hotel on foot. It's all part of the adventure!
I research everything pre trip ...Hotels booked 5 months in advance, read every book and web site, study every map. That said I have never considered researching gas or tolls. Like others have said gas stations are everywhere (and the highway auto grills have great food). Many tollbooths were unmanned and my visa is chip less so I couldn't Always use it but I always have lots of euro change ... No problem, but have lots ... French tolls are pricey.
One more note about euro highway signs... There might be an exit sign 10kms before the actual exit with a bunch of towns listed and then when you get to the exit you won't see that list again. Just be aware.
Bon voyage.

My French isn't too bad - I feel pretty comfortable using it even though I know it isn't correct. The only time I really needed it was when I got into a lane at the toll booth that only took Carte Bleue credit cards. I had to push the button and speak to the attendant who came out to see what the problem was. But even without French it would have been obvious what my problem is.

Which reminds me - if you are taking toll roads just make sure you get in a lane that takes cash.

I don't think you will have any difficulty with language.