I was nervous to rent a one-way car in France, but my experience with Europcar was overall…read morepositive. I pre-booked through Expedia and opted for the rate that included bumper-to-bumper insurance since we have had a couple of mishaps with car rentals in Europe. It gave us peace of mind and was worth every penny. I'm also glad I got an automatic car because it adds far less stress while driving in a foreign country. Book online and book early if you don't want to drive a stick shift on vacation.
We were given a very nice, mostly new car. The GPS was handy but it only gave us spoken directions in French. I'm glad I packed my universal Tom Tom as a backup. The car was in excellent condition and was very comfortable, and we had zero problems with the vehicle.
This rental car counter is difficult to find as it's at the "end" of the very busy Bordeaux train station. Once you find it, you have to take another elevator up to the top level of a garage to select your car. The garage is crowded and is a little intimidating to get the car out, drive down a long and winding ramp, and then out into the very busy streets of Bordeaux. But we managed.
I would say driving in this region of France isn't for the faint of heart, but it's not nearly as challenging as driving in large Italian cities. Once we hit wine country and the small, uncrowded roads, it was smooth sailing.