Chris's Perspective...

 

Annie lent us her Smart car to explore - some difference!

We waited until the Monday morning traffic had died down and set off, skirting Paris towards Charles de Gaulle airport, in the general direction of Belfort on the Swiss border. That whole area of France is relatively flat and uninteresting and we ate up the kilometres on the Peage toll roads. We also ate up the fuel in the little 20 litre tank and had to exit the motorway in search of petrol. We entered an almost surreal modern town of large blocks of apartments with no shops and particularly no petrol stations. Things were starting to get tense as Aimile existed on the last fumes from her tank when a huge Costco emerged behind the apartment blocks. On a vast forecourt sporting some 20 double pumps atop a wind-swept hill, we stopped and breathed a sigh of relief. We were used to automated pumps by now, but this place was a different level. No sign of a human anywhere. I tried my Greek card, the machine spat it out. This was not the first time, so I wasn't too perturbed, I tried one of Jacky's, same result. By the fourth card we were beginning to worry. I moved Aimile to another pump and repeated the process. By this time other motorists were arriving and having similar problems. A kind of ballet ensued with cars driving off or backing out to access other pumps. I didn't understand what was said, but I got the gist. On my fifth pump a guy arrived looking like an astronaut in an incredibly overstuffed high viz suit. He suggested I might have better luck with the very last pump on the far end. I was sceptical, but desperate and after the 3rd card, bingo we got petrol. We could continue on our way. Timing refills of the tiny tank continued throughout the trip. So did the card problem. Spread across our various bank accounts, all our bank cards were randomly refused. It became a kind of game of "try this one", until one worked. If we had one bank account each, we would have been stuck somewhere in the middle of Europe. If you are going to attempt this kind of travel, make sure you have multiple ways to access your funds. We managed 530 kms that day, almost all Peage.