Petrol stations
Discussion
Couple of points. Although there are plenty of petrol stations South of Rouen most of them are card only - that's French card only - pumps after about 6pm.
Not uknown to see British cars sat waiting for someon Frenchmen to pull in and attempt the "If moi give vous 20euro will vous put 20euro au petrol in mon voiture dans vous card?".
Thankfully this is outside of the Le Mans Triangle (basically the circuit) where no Frenchman can understand any French spoken by anyone English. I've managed drunken conversations with the locals in the centre of Le Mans on the Friday, but never managed to get one of the guys stood outside the main entrance to understand "Ou est le parking blanc?"...
Not uknown to see British cars sat waiting for someon Frenchmen to pull in and attempt the "If moi give vous 20euro will vous put 20euro au petrol in mon voiture dans vous card?".
Thankfully this is outside of the Le Mans Triangle (basically the circuit) where no Frenchman can understand any French spoken by anyone English. I've managed drunken conversations with the locals in the centre of Le Mans on the Friday, but never managed to get one of the guys stood outside the main entrance to understand "Ou est le parking blanc?"...
Edited by //j17 on Tuesday 24th April 16:02
Petrol isn't a problem, virtualy every village has a SuperU or a L'eclerc. Some of the UK chip and pin credit cards will not work on the French automatic pumps, so always carry some Euro's and the Froggies will gladly put your fuel on their cards in exchange for cash. They are a very amicable bunch and will generally go out of their way to help.
We actually ran out of fuel in Dieppe last year on the harbour road as it was Wold Cup semi final night and the place was chocka with celebrations. The main road was unpassable for the entire evening after the match untill 2am. A hoarde of people pushed the car to a safe spot and then I had quite a dilema in not offending several people by taking an offer of a lift to the petrol station. The person who took me then was most upset that I wanted to pay the my own petrol. The only thing to do was accept the gift gracefully, and after putting in the fuel we retired to the nearest bar 20 yards from the car and got well and truely wrecked for the rest of the evening, leaving the car where it was and joining the party with the truely jubilant Frenchies.
The white liveried pumps are 95 standard unleaded and the green ones are the superplus 98+ octane.
I made the mistake the first year we went of hooning down the Autoroutes at warp speeds, yes its a buzz, but such a waste. Now we go a day earlier and stop off for a night en route at a country chateau or hote de chambre, they are plentiful and very inexpensive.
If you have a decent co pilot / map reader don't get suckered into the Autoroutes, there is so much more to see and enjoy in France. Their roads are fantastic and there are plenty of stop offs along the away. getting to Le Mans is as much a part of the experience as the actual racing...enjoy
We actually ran out of fuel in Dieppe last year on the harbour road as it was Wold Cup semi final night and the place was chocka with celebrations. The main road was unpassable for the entire evening after the match untill 2am. A hoarde of people pushed the car to a safe spot and then I had quite a dilema in not offending several people by taking an offer of a lift to the petrol station. The person who took me then was most upset that I wanted to pay the my own petrol. The only thing to do was accept the gift gracefully, and after putting in the fuel we retired to the nearest bar 20 yards from the car and got well and truely wrecked for the rest of the evening, leaving the car where it was and joining the party with the truely jubilant Frenchies.
The white liveried pumps are 95 standard unleaded and the green ones are the superplus 98+ octane.
I made the mistake the first year we went of hooning down the Autoroutes at warp speeds, yes its a buzz, but such a waste. Now we go a day earlier and stop off for a night en route at a country chateau or hote de chambre, they are plentiful and very inexpensive.
If you have a decent co pilot / map reader don't get suckered into the Autoroutes, there is so much more to see and enjoy in France. Their roads are fantastic and there are plenty of stop offs along the away. getting to Le Mans is as much a part of the experience as the actual racing...enjoy
DHA (and others maybe), Some years in the past I've travelled overnight from Calais to Le Mans usually between midnight and 4-5am Saturday morning via Rouen and then the N138. In my experience, there are NO petrol stations manned anywhere on this route. A number are open but not manned so require a credit card to operate the pump and UK credit cards do not work them. So I've seen many Brits queuing for the stations to open. When travelling overnight I always take a reserve tank just to be safe. Since the A28 south of Rouen has opened there is a manned service station near to Alencon, quite a long way down to Le Mans. Just in case anyone is desperate there is a 24 hour manned station beside the airport at Le Mans. They also serve excellent crepes! R.
iamthestig said:
dha said:
I was considering a small jerry can for fuel but am worried about having it in the car (which isnt mine!) and the car being in the heat. Any ideas?
IN A 987s ? Won't be necessary.
Sold that late last year. Am in something from Italy this year.
Edited by dha on Tuesday 24th April 21:52
Cooky said:
There is fuel at Bernay, half way down te A28 between Rouen and Alencon, easy acess back on the Autoroute too. That said Bernay is a great stop off with plenty of cheap rooms and a great kebab shop.
There is now a 24 hour petrol station on the auto-route. Aire de Haras - near Gace. Gassing Station | Le Mans | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff