Panne D’Essence in Quebec? Not a Problem!

Mark A., of Warwick, New York, and his friends didn’t need to speak French to get their message across.

If I had known how to say ‘out of gas’ in French (‘panne d’essence’), I could have saved myself some stress.

On a road trip with two bandmates a few summers back from New York to Quebec, my friends and I were having a grand old time on the road, and of course, paid no attention to the gas gauge until it was on E. Chugging to a halt, we made a few calls to local service stations. Would you believe we were still in upstate New York, but no one spoke English? Although we took French in high school, that was 50-plus years ago!

Our driver remembered that he had AAA, so we called. Given the marvels of the digital universe, our message was translated, and needless to say, we were relieved. A truck with gas arrived in fewer than 30 minute,s and we continued on to Quebec and the best T-bone steak I ever ate. Thank you, AAA.”

AAA Roadside Assistance is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the U.S. and Canada.

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