France is out of Petrol!

Now that I am living in the countryside, I am constantly in my car.  I had become used to filling up my tank about once a months as I barely used it when I was living in the city.  I rarely thought about getting to a gas station.

Now, I am always sure to keep my tank at least 1/2 full as I did run into a situation one day where I was on my way to Bonnieux which is a small village in the Luberon.  It is out in the middle of nowhere and there’s about a 20 minute climb up to the village from the base of the hill.  On this particular day and while I was winding my way up the hill (and I mean winding), the light in my car began flashing, letting me know that I was low on gas.  Hmmmm.  I figured, that I’d definitely make it up to the town and once there, I could fill up my car.

Well,  was in for a bad surprise.  Yes, I made it into Bonnieux but there wasn’t a gas station to be found.  I panicked!  I asked around and was told that the closest station was in the next town and it was about 15 minutes away.  Luckily, I was meeting friends and after lunch, one of them came with me, just in case I ran out.  I made it on fumes and I swore that would never happen again.  I honestly don’t think that that has ever happened to me in my entire life.  I’ve been driving since I was 16!  I learned my lesson that day.  I never go anywhere without at least a tank which is half full.

So, about 2 weeks ago, with this idea in mind, I decided to stop at my preferred station in Aix.  I was going in for the afternoon and thought that I’d stop there to refuel once I got into town.  To my surprise, there was no gas!  The tanks were empty.  There I was again, stuck!  I was told on that day that if I was lucky and went to the station down the road that I could hopefully find some gas.  I was lucky and was able to fill up but as I was doing that, the guy came out and was putting little plastic bags around the other  pumps with signs saying “hors service” or “out of order”.  This was getting weird!  What was going on?

I went home that night and was sure to watch the news.  It turned out that Total (which is where I’d been) had discounted the gas.  Thanks to that, everyone had decided to go and fill their tanks and the stations were simply running out.  That is what I understood anyway.

I decided that from that day on, I would just fill up every time I went out.  Just in case.

What followed was even worse.  There has now been a strike at the refineries and the pumps are closed.  I have been unable to find gas for a week and luckily I haven’t needed to go very far.  I have stopped in every station that I’ve passed only to find the same scenario,  The entire station taped off as there is no gas to be sold.

It is the first time in my life where I’ve been consciously deciding where to go and weather or not I really need to drive somewhere.  It is a scary thought to find yourself out of gas and unable to get to a supermarket or visit a friend.

They are saying that negotiations are under way and by mid week we should be back to normal.  I’m not sure and I hope it’s true. For now, I will stay home to ensure that my 1/2 tank stays full.

Mad Max?  Very strange time, indeed.