Star One EMV doesn't work. In fact none of my cards worked at the counter even for purchasing train tickets at the Cannes station.

Doesn't work at highway toll booths either. In 2007 my stripe cards were fine.

Well an attendant had to come out and handle the cash. So it's rather pointless of them to put in offline chip terminals because they still have attendants around.

And Visa for its part issues the EMV cards to Europeans so why not put them on all US cards? Bet the transactions they lose is greater than the incremental costs of the chip.