Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Judah writes:

Makeshift solutions are not something I'd want to depend on.

What makes you say this is makeshift?

If weather conditions permit. But ideally I'd want to be able to fly
even in poor visibility.

Then you would get your Instrument Rating and fly a plane that had the
minimum required equipment. You might also carry some backup instruments like
a handheld GPS and handheld NAV/COM.

If I had a sectional. Unfortunately, those are expensive, and finding
one for the southwestern U.S. in France would be problematic (and
costly).

There are several sites where you can download sectionals at no cost. It was
discussed in an earlier thread. You can google it.