'Ou est l'essence' will do you fine Jon just thow in a bit of 'a les oup' & they'll love you ;-)
I did a cycling mission with three buddies one summer whilst at uni. We went to the Alps to do some mountain biking; train to Lyon & ride over to the mounatains for 4 weeks madness... Anyhow, it rained for the first week so instead of hanging around, we decided to ride back to Blighty rather than risk les french railways battering our bikes again...
I remember stopping at one town & asking a little old lady in my best Franglais, 'ou est le camping madam?' Well, off she went droiting & gauching (right & left) all over town... I was just about keeping up when this little old french fella popped up from nowhere saying 'non, non, non...' & off he went toe to toe with the old dear arguing about the best way to get to the site!!! What a hoot!!! In the end I just 'merci beaucouped' them both & set off in the general direction of the arm waving & found it just up the way...
I quite like les French when you're off the beaten treack & as long as you have a go at their language, I have generally had assistance from them rather than the glum picture often painted by some folk.
Whens the off date for the trek? How much luggage space do I have available for my bags?