Its a worse tax because it applies to nearly everything you buy, including essentials...it is a tax which favours the rich every time, and discriminates against the poor. It is astonishing how they got away with it. The millionaire pays the same tax as a pauper - and many cant see it. Fuel tax is also a poll tax on wheels, like VAT, but VAT is on everything.

Can't really agree with that. Much as I don't like paying taxes, unfortunately a degree of taxation is necessary to fund the infrastructure and a tax on purchasing is as good a way as any. Most if not all European countries have VAT and before that we had purchase tax as they still do in most states of America. Rich people do pay more tax than poor people as they usually spend more.

Actually VAT is worse, beacuse after they put duty on it (fuel tax) they then charge VAT on the tax. IE they tax us for paying tax.

Another little twist to poor people hating GB, bit like teh tax changes he snuck in three years ago to tax people whose income is below the tax threshold.

Any HUBBers "on the ground" in France at present who can advise the status of petrol availability in light of the current blockades of French refineries?. I'll be riding from Spain to Germany in the next couple of days and would like to know if I should carry enough gas to transit France without the need to stop at a petrol station.

Many thanks,
Chris

I think the strike may be over by now, it was May 2008! :confused1:

Dave, think you shot yourself in the foot there judging by your sign off message :)

There is NO fuel available in my neck of the woods, west France, today 18 Oct 2010.
Fortunately I did fill up Saturday at a little off the beaten track 24/7 Automat station. It is empty now. I have enough fuel to make it to the ferry port tomorrow. Will be able to get back if I board at Plymouth with a full tank.

I might just take a couple of empty cans with me to bring back full.

Chris, If you can carry enough fuel for the transit, I would advise you to do so.

I so admire the French unions, its just a great pity the British don't bring such widespread strikes.

Strike is quite not yet over for this one.


Situation is tight, you can have a look at this map which shows empty petrol stations reported by people.

http://www.carbu.fr/stationvides.php


There is a big confusion here, some (a few) closed stations may be re-opening here and there for a short period of time, depending on the availability of refuelling from main stock facilities.

South of Paris here, some SP95/98 left, not much. According to the news, in some remote regions of France, situation is critical.

It first started with a rush on "gasoil" last week (70%+ of cars in France run gasoil + trucks), but now unleaded petrol SP95/SP98 is less and less available as stock are not renewed (or scarcely and with difficulty).

You could adjust your route and get straight to Switzerland on your way to Germany, to shorten your transit in France.

Depending on your route, to be on the safe side, make sure you carry a spare can, and check often station you'll find on your way while to refuel whenever possible, there might be some SP95/98 left here and there. Good luck !

Ive just got back to France 2 hours ago travelling 70 miles from Caen we saw no available fuel all the overnight stations had bollards in front and where closed, the new service area at Argentan was also shut.
On checking in at Portsmouth with Brittany Ferries they where telling everyone they could carry no extra fuel on board! & where checking most vehicles. So check with your ferry company first as people where having to leave fuel there.
Good Luck and I,ll give update tomorrow.

I came back through France on Sunday from the Alps and didn't have any problems but a lot can change in two days. Many filling stations had long queues and were refusing to fill cans. One refused to put fuel in the tank of an MX bike on a trailer.

Thanks for the tips guys. I think I'll be buying jerry cans and tying them on the back. La Joqueria to Geneva is 630 odd km. My tank holds 18 litres an dI get 18 km per litre so 20litres will do, i hope.

cheers
Chris in Barcelona

Hi Dave
You might want to get you current affairs news from more reputable sources rather than "Readers Wives" or "Hello" Magazine.

Hi the others who replied,
Made it to cousin's house on French side of border with Switzerland. I rode the A9 and a few bits on the RN. All smaller gas stations were closed. Some bigger stations on the motorway had cars at the pumps. Didn't stop to check if they were filling up or just cleaning their windscreens (or buying French versions of the news mags that Dave reads....)

The fuel I bought in Spain was cheaper than the French stuff would have been and the nice workers at a Spanish fuel station gave me free 5 litre plastic cans for my fuel. So quids in. Have more beer money.

Last time I was in this situation was in Zimbabwe in 2000 where there wasn't any fuel either. Robert Gabriel and Nico have a few other similarities too...

cheers
C

The advice about taking cans is good, because the current situation is unpredictable and changeable. A station may be out of diesel, but have petrol - and vice versa. Additionally, supplies do arrive, but you don't know when.

So I would hesitate to say the situation is OK or not because, as stated, it changes daily. In the Massif Central, there appears to be fuel generally available, but it would be misleading to say all is OK.

Same here in Normandy, it changes by the hour. Some of the supermarkets are only serving fuel in the evening so the carpark is not blocked for the shoppers during the day. The only thing which is constant is gpl/lpg which is great because thats what my 4 wheels runs on.

Or have I just been lucky?
 

Hi all,

Returned yesterday to the UK from Tunisia through France. We'd heard all about the problems - ports blockaded, no fuel, roads blocked etc, and we feared the worst.

We docked at Marseille with no problems, it was only the oil terminal that was blockaded, ferries were running fine. For the drive home, we'd considered hot-footing it to Italy, then up through Switz, Germany, Lux and Belgium.

I spoke to a depannage guy on the dock and he said the motorway was clear so we thought we'd give it a go - our tanks were full of Tunisian diesel and we had enough to get home. We drove all the way from Marseille to Dunkerque with no problems whatsoever. Every time we stopped for a coffee, the service stations were fine. No queues, no rationing, no hassle. We saw no blockades. When we stopped for the evening at Valence the local fuel stations had plenty of diesel. Before we boarded the ferry at Dunkerque we decided to check out the Auchan hypermarket. Same deal, no queues so we filled up, got on the boat and went home.

We might have just been extraordinarily lucky so I'd recommend "destroyer tactics" ie when you stop for a break, fill your tank even if it's 3/4 full.

Happy trails,

Jojo