Spardo:
I know all those Robert, The last time I ate at the one at Amfreville was more than a dozen years ago and the meal was good but it was run by an Indian from London who spoke good English. The lorry park isn’t as big as your photo suggests and, because it is just a couple of hundred yards into a banned route, nearly always accessed from the south and is a bit of a challenge for left hookers reversing in off the road. I often pass that way now and always look towards it from the roundabout but get the impression that it is no longer a routier.The Relais de Beauce too I recognise but can’t place it just at the moment. I have passed it within the last month or 2 though.
Tivoli has long been a favourite and is still going strong. I passed it a short while ago but stayed up the road at Thomas la Sogne, mainly to see if it too still survived. It does, and I ate well, though the company was less than sparkling. The evil square eye on the wall was the culprit.
The one at Couhe is called Macadam, I think, and again you’re right, the grub is excellent, but I normally overnight at Vivonne. The company is nearly always good there (no telly
) and they are very traditional in filling each table with diners before starting on another. The time before last I got into the company of a Brazilian driver who lives in Bordeaux and didn’t get to bed till midnight, several digestives after the end of the meal.
The last time was when I was running to Bordeaux on a Sunday from Bethune. I had tried to park the night before at the Arcotel in Rouen but it was closed, so bought some salad from the Total on the dual carriageway north of Chartres and parked up further down in a layby. Vivonne serves Sunday lunch, so I ate there knowing I’d get nothing when I got to Bordeaux.
Even got unexpectedly tipped both sides of Bordeaux after being given Monday morning rdvs and parked up, again with salad near La Reole. It was the parking of a routier but it wasn’t open at 6 on the Monday morning so may be extinct.
Thanks for all that Spardo. You were allowed to run the ban just to reverse into the parking at Amfreville (I asked the French drivers!). You are so right about Vivonne! And Sunday lunch was always a marvel because all the families for miles around came to meet for their weekly Sunday lunch - grannies, kids, drivers: wine enough to drown. Wonderful! What about Bordeaux? There used to be two very good Routiers there. I used to use the big dodgy one where all the gypsies parked. Happy memories! Robert 