France, fuel and motorways tomorrow

[GSV]Lemming

[GSV]Lemming

[GSV]Lemming

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Joined
27 Nov 2002
Posts
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Location
Desborough,Kettering
I have been wading through sites to try and get a live feed for the fuel situation on the motorways but havent been able to find anything great. We leave through the chunnel tomorrow and then head down to Toulouse in a run.

On the off chance, has anyone been travelling on the motorways in the last day or so and is there an issue getting unleaded, or is it a bit over hyped?
 
Carrying 80 litres of petrol in a car is illegal in the UK, not sure about France... You might be able to take 60 litres with you though, in seriousness... :p
 
You'd still need to find somewhere in France to fill them though as you can't take them on ferries or the eurotunnel. You can't even take empty jerry cans on the chunnel by the looks of it.
 
We've just cancelled our plans to head to Champagne this weekend

This website details live updates of which petrol stations do/don't have fuel: https://mon-essence.fr/blog/2016/05/19/penurie-de-carburant/

CGT is urging all transportation staff to strike, so I wouldn't be surprised if Calais ends up closed in the next couple of days too.

It's also going to rain all weekend. Getting stuck at a French motorway services in the rain without fuel? No ta.
 
I'm planning to head to France, near Le Mans soon - vie a ferry to Dieppe.

Thought about cancelling but it'll be good for a giggle. If I hypermile it, getting there and back on a single tank of petrol should be doable, plus some short trips. Keep calm and carry on...
 
It varies according to region, but as far as I'm aware most of the autoroute petrol stations are still fine (they're a lot more expensive so people rarely use them). It was a bit of a nightmare yesterday in my region (Provence Alpes Cote D'azur) with a lot of stations empty or with huge queues, but today it seems fine: I bought almost €400 worth of petrol for work with no problems.
 
Yeah - I heard from someone else that the autoroute petrol station were OK. Also Unleaded isn't as hard to come by as diesel.

Regarding jerry cans - they're OK on Eurotunnel and if you're carrying diesel on ferries. For petrol, most ferry operators don't allow them. Also some French petrol stations aren't allowing people to fill portable containers. Some areas are also restricting the amount of fuel that can be purchased.
 
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Uriel said:
Yeah - I head from someone else that the autoroute petrol station were OK. Also Unleaded isn't as hard to come by as diesel.
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Indeed: most French people drive diesel cars so it runs out a lot quicker. When I got petrol for my own car yesterday a girl in a diesel Clio got extremely angry with the attendant when he put me to the front of the queue - she looked rather sheepish when I asked if she'd like me to put some petrol in her car for her. :p
 
adam cool dude said:
Buy jerry cans and fill them up in Italy.

Going to Poland in July quietly, pleased that I decided to go through Holland instead. France is just too messed up now!
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I have a 210litre boot which is full of luggage, and a backseat that's full of stuff my girlfriend has bought along the way :/

Fortunately my car needs super unleaded so perhaps I'll get lucky and there will be a better supply of it.
 
thewanted said:
The E80/A8 at Grimaldi. Heading to Grasse to stay over and then onto Chambery for one night before going back to Calais.
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You'll go right past my place then! I suspect you'll be absolutely fine but send me a PM if you have any problems: I drive around that region every day so I'll always be aware which fuel stations are open, and I have a close friend in Grasse as well.
 
I am meant to be driving around france from sat over next 2 weeks. Driving down from euro tunnel to south and around. Does anything think this will get better or worse
 
geekman said:
You'll go right past my place then! I suspect you'll be absolutely fine but send me a PM if you have any problems: I drive around that region every day so I'll always be aware which fuel stations are open, and I have a close friend in Grasse as well.
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Thanks dude, appreciate it :) It's going to be an interesting few days! Kinda takes the shine out of doing the Route Napoleon when you have to worry about filling up afterwards.
 
A friend of mine went over yesterday, between the ferry and Dijon they only saw one petrol station closed, but the situation is apparently worsening so I would say fill up at every opportunity.
 
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