I think it heavily depends on the gas station. For instance the cheapest chains (e.g. Total Access, Carrefour, Leclerc) often don't accept cash as there is mos

I think it heavily depends on the gas station. For instance the cheapest chains (e.g. Total Access, Carrefour, Leclerc) often don't accept cash as there is most of the time no employee on premise, and they don't want to deal with vandalism. In general France is progressively going away from cash. Using a credit card for super small transactions like buying bread at the bakery were deemed almost anti-social a few years ago, but more and more bakeries start to prefer it for speedier contact less payment for instance.