Good coffee/breakfast/lunch stops just off the Autoroute.

[Arsey]

Another thread , featuring a book of places to stop in UK just off the motorways for food got me thinking . So here’s a thread for peeps to post recommendations for places to stop in France that are just off the autoroute network.

I’ll start with a great little bakery for breakfast if you’ve made an early start from Picos/San Sebastian etc and are ready for a pain au chocolat and a coffee etc .
This place is in a little town just off the A63

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[siddo]

Merlin Eric just before Eurotunnel at Frethun. Freshly made sandwich which are great.

 

[Wapping]

Merlin Eric just before Eurotunnel at Frethun

This is UKGSer. Half of the numpties will need a map:

 

[grantmac]

Or why not expand to coffee and lunch stops en route of where ever you are going?
I have a good address in Germany along the Mosel river for Curry Wurst

 

[Wapping]

Or why not expand to coffee and lunch stops en route of where ever you are going?
I have a good address in Germany along the Mosel river for Curry Wurst

Because this is the French section.

By all means, start the same topic in the German section.

 

[wessie]

This is UKGSer. Half of the numpties will need a map:

if the fuckers can't find a serviceable boulangerie in France then I suggest they do not get out of bed

 

[Fluffmeister]

This place was really good for a stop just off the A10 near Poitier Airport. I wasn't on the autoroute when I found it but had booked into the Hotel B&B just down the road from it for the night on my last trip as I was getting a bit tired.

Easy parking, great food, great staff and the cave bar next door had a brilliant vibe.

Boulangerie - Pâtisserie - Snacking "Le Fournil de Biard - Aéroport" · 2 Rue Annet Segeron, 86580 Biard, Frankreich

âââââ · Bäckerei

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Arsey]

Or why not expand to coffee and lunch stops en route of where ever you are going?
I have a good address in Germany along the Mosel river for Curry Wurst

Yes but this in the France section

 

[grantmac]

yup, so I just realised. Maybe I´ll start something for Germany as well. Nice idea though....

 

[leadfarmer]

Copied over from the other thread

If you fancy a change from motorway services there are a certain number of villages just off motorways or main roads, I’ve used a few, makes a nice alternative to service areas and the food and petrol is cheaper

Village étape …….

What is a Village Étape? – Les Villages Étapes

www.village-etape.fr

 

[ChasF]

if the fuckers can't find a serviceable boulangerie in France then I suggest they do not get out of bed

For years you had to buy you patisserie in the cake shop and then walk down the road to the café to get your coffee. These days the French flair for business has finally worked out that either could sell both!

 

[theoneandonly]

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say no more !

 

[Wapping]

I think we’ll need some ground rules for Biggles’ list:

A. What distance constitutes ‘off the motorway”. One mile? Five, ten, twenty or more?

B. Some bods on this forum never use a mototorway. Or at least they claim not to, but probably do when they think nobody is watching. Are they to be included? If so, the area could well embrace the whole of France. In extreme cases, it will bring in cafes and bakeries along or even across say, the Belgian or Luxembourg borders, leading to all sorts of confusion.

C. Is there only to be scran on the menu, suitably attuned to the taste buds of the average (but sometimes remarkably fussy) English bikermate? In other words, no foreign muck wot I wouldn’t give to me dog, mate.

But within the spirit of bikermate banter, I’ll lob in the cafe at Inchy, where you can pick up a friendly coffee or a beer and / or a bun / croissant / filled roll from the pretty decent bakery a couple of doors down. Bikermates will though need to be aware that the bakery’s hours differ from those of the cafe, so do not just assume that both will be open together when you rock up for scran’n’brew.

Got a map, mate?

Natch mate:





But I can’t understand a map, mate. How far is it?

Currently (as in right at this very minute) about 34 minutes of ‘normal’ driving from the motorway payage barrier at Cambrai to the cafe / bakery at Inchy. So that’s less if you hoon your awesome or longer if you bimble, stop for fuel, get lost or sit twiddling your thumbs whilst your bikermates struggle with the complexities of the payage barriers.

But that’s too far, mate. Me bladder won’t last that long, the road looks dead straight and we only does twisties and anyways we donut want to go that way.

Tough luck, mate. Find another one.





PS The eagle eyed (or even just vaguely awake) amongst you, will maybe notice that the cafe was shut when the Google camera rolled past but, apparently, the bakery was open, as its lights are on *. This highlights the dangers and challenges of Adventure (with a capital A) travel and the gut wrenching disappointment (sometimes linked to outright panic) of blindly following recommendations and ‘must do’ posts. The tears that might follow an unsuccessful rendezvous (as they say in foreign) can be overwhelming.


* Or maybe the lights are on but nobody is in. Who knows…. You’ll only find out when you go.

 

[Wapping]

Biggles’ list could be cross referenced against petrol stations ‘Just off the motorway’, too:

Here’s one to set the ball rolling. There’s even a supermarket, to pick up scran:

 

[ChasF]

I don’t know of any cafes specifically close to motorways. I rarely use motorways and, being retired these days, only the free ones after they put the peage prices up to fucking ridiculous. Bikermates who travel on the N and D routes should be aware of the rise of the ‘Delice’ which mostly take the form of a large bakery often on the edge of a town or a large roundabout, usually with tables and chairs outside and a large parking area. These places are justifiably popular with locals and travellers and save all the faffing around buying your croissants in one place and your coffee in another. Most do pretty good snack lunches (croque monsieur etc). Ones I know of are Perigueux, Bergerac, Marmande, Mont de Marsan, Sarlat, Figeac, Decazville, Rodez and numerous along the Cote d’Azur. Can’t claim to have tried them all but ones we’ve been to have been good, can be very busy though.

 

[harry the cat]

We use autoroutes quite often to get from A to B. They are franchised so the food and service is variable. The ‘Paul’ brand do decent sandwiches etc. You have to pick and choose. Off the motorway it’s not hard to find a decent boulangerie but quite a lot of them are becoming part of chains now, particularly around cities. Having said that the quality in some of them is quite good.

 

[Wapping]

As Wessie alludes to, the truth is there is a load of cafes and / or places to buy food in France.

The other, just as telling truth (or truths) is / are:

A. Not every village / town has a cafe and bakery. Most people comment that the villages and towns they ride through are empty, devoid of life. Nobody opens cafes in empty villages and keeps them going.

B. Not every village / town has a cafe or bakery that is guaranteed to be open, just when you want it open.

C. Some of the cafes will be pretty basic, catering all but exclusively for the local, somewhat ‘rustic’ clientele. Here is a very good example, of one that I stop in pretty regularly. It is as basic as basic can be. The owners speaks no English (why should he) and it does no food but I like it:





D. By no means do all the cafes do food, not least as many double up as the local bar and / or sellers of Lotto scratch cards and the PMU betting venue.

E. Those that do food, might well have a very limited menu, so you’ll probably not find a bacon sarnie, brown sauce and a mug of brew. You might though find rognons de veau, which is great (assuming you’ll eat veal kidneys, that is) and a glass of red wine to wash it down.

F. Not all bakeries offer pre-filled rolls or baguettes. Those that do, might well include salad in the food. If you don’t like salad, tough luck.

G. If you want it to be just like home….. stay at home.

 

[Wapping]

We use autoroutes quite often to get from A to B.

A very good way to use them and exactly why governments (or private enterprises) spend multiple millions on building and then running the things.

Yes, bods will probably get charged (ie ripped-off, mate) EUR 8 for a baguette, versus the EUR 3.50 they might have paid in a supermarket or small bakery (if they’d stopped *) but is EUR 4.50 going to change their life or ruin the day? I guess not.


* And for some, had the courage to enter into a small shop, where they will not speak English, without someone holding their hand.

 

[Wapping]

Continuing but expanding on Biggles’ theme, I’d like to offer up a favourite cafe of mine, which also has fuel available.










It doesn’t do food per-se but you can often pick up nibbles of cold meat and the lady owner sometimes dishes out free slices of pizza.

I see there is the bikermates’ dining of choice in the same village. I haven’t tried it, simply as I didn’t know it was there. I’ll give it a go if I pass at lunchtime:

 

[Arsey]

As Wessie alludes to, the truth is there is a load of cafes and / or places to buy food in France.

The other, just as telling truth (or truths) is / are:

A. Not every village / town has a cafe and bakery. Most people comment that the villages and towns they ride through are empty, devoid of life. Nobody opens cafes in empty villages and keeps them going.

B. Not every village / town has a cafe or bakery that is guaranteed to be open, just when you want it open.

C. Some of the cafes will be pretty basic, catering all but exclusively for the local, somewhat ‘rustic’ clientele. Here is a very good example, of one that I stop in pretty regularly. It is as basic as basic can be. The owners speaks no English (why should he) and it does no food but I like it:

View attachment 342138

View attachment 342139

D. By no means do all the cafes do food, not least as many double up as the local bar and / or sellers of Lotto scratch cards and the PMU betting venue.

E. Those that do food, might well have a very limited menu, so you’ll probably not find a bacon sarnie, brown sauce and a mug of brew. You might though find rognons de veau, which is great (assuming you’ll eat veal kidneys, that is) and a glass of red wine to wash it down.

F. Not all bakeries offer pre-filled rolls or baguettes. Those that do might offer baguettes that are too big or may contain tomato. The dirty dirty bastards.

G. If you want it to be just like home….. stay at home.

F. Fixed for accuracy