It appears that the lady at the AA was describing details of the 'single trip cover' and not the full cover
If your with the AA, you should be fine if you've got the 'full' cover...... its the single trip that doesn't cover repatriation
you obviously need to check that you have european cover.
The recovery from the ring wont be covered by anyone apart from ADAC, even then you may have to pay and then reclaim the money later..... if your with anyone else, you pay (250euro i believe) to be recovered to the carpark, your own european recovery will then take over from the carpark....
also, if you breakdown in France on the motorway, you can only be recovered by using one of the roadside phones or Police........ you need to check your policy to see what to do in this event... the RAC one says that you must get recovered to the recovery company yard and then the RAC will take over from there.