Four of 'em here,take your pick ; millepates-guyane.com/
Mille Pattes means Centipede btw.
Wheel Nut:
gazzer:
Vivonne is an annual stop of mine in July on the north bound jaunt. Consistently good.I am going for my birthday lunch next Thursday then spend the weekend in St Emillion
Bon anniversaire pour Jeudi prochain Malcolm et bon appetite 
Not the best but always handy i used to use
the Arcotel chain.
the independant one at Yutz was nice
cant remember the name of hand
hitch:
Not the best but always handy i used to use
the Arcotel chain.
the independant one at Yutz was nice
cant remember the name of hand
I can’t remember what it was called either, but it’s gone now anyway 
The one at Yutz that is, which I hadn’t realised was an Arcotel.
I was in my early twenties when i did my first trip to France. I remember for the first three trips or so i existed on whatever i had taken with me and when i summoned up the courage the odd baguette. Then someone took me under there wing and i remember the first place i was taken to eat properly was Centre Routier in Bordeaux. It all seemed very intimidating until i got the hang of it all, but i’ve been a big fan ever since.
My first trip to Italy I transited France on " Sandwich Jambon et une biere SVP" That’s all I could say in French. Next trip I was near Marseilles in a Routiers & I said to waitress in English .“I’ll have what they’re having.” & the whole place was in an uproar - drivers collapsed laughing. In the end I went over to their tables & pointed to the plates of food & then to my mouth. & the waitress took my order. I always did have a way with words! It was a big restaurant.
Simon:
hitch:
Not the best but always handy i used to use
the Arcotel chain.
the independant one at Yutz was nice
cant remember the name of handI can’t remember what it was called either, but it’s gone now anyway
The one at Yutz that is, which I hadn’t realised was an Arcotel.
I had a 
moment as I drove past Yutz this week.
Was it called the Mille Plattes ?
We came back as fat as pigs although I did miss my proper meal in Vivonne, we stopped off for coffee and sandwich in both directions.
We had a nice Horsy meal in Resto Plessis near Chartres, a free buffet at the track, a Campanile discounted routier meal and a Japanese meal in Angouleme. But the best place we found was a pizza restaurant in Berck.
Our friends have a fish restaurant near La Reole but it has become very expensive and a bit upmarket. That cost us £75 for 3 people.
Wheel Nut:
We came back as fat as pigs although I did miss my proper meal in Vivonne, we stopped off for coffee and sandwich in both directions.We had a nice Horsy meal in Resto Plessis near Chartres, a free buffet at the track, a Campanile discounted routier meal and a Japanese meal in Angouleme. But the best place we found was a pizza restaurant in Berck.
Our friends have a fish restaurant near La Reole but it has become very expensive and a bit upmarket. That cost us £75 for 3 people.
where’s the japanese in angouleme? can you park a truck near? 
welshboyinspain:
Wheel Nut:
We came back as fat as pigs although I did miss my proper meal in Vivonne, we stopped off for coffee and sandwich in both directions.We had a nice Horsy meal in Resto Plessis near Chartres, a free buffet at the track, a Campanile discounted routier meal and a Japanese meal in Angouleme. But the best place we found was a pizza restaurant in Berck.
Our friends have a fish restaurant near La Reole but it has become very expensive and a bit upmarket. That cost us £75 for 3 people.
where’s the japanese in angouleme? can you park a truck near?
I think you could and it is quite easy and cheap. The map is out of date as the restaurant is not showing up. It is called Sushi Yo near the Tabac. Come off at St Yrieix sur Charente and past the Campanile
Lots to comment on here. My favourite subject
Vivonne yes, Liposthey, yes and of course Chez Jo where I will be on the evening of Monday the 10th of October on my way to Blighty.
I am back on the road, in a way, part time and with the Berlingo not the Magnum.
I transport dogs all over France from refuges to new owners and am revisiting a lot of old haunts into the bargain.
Called in at Le Relax (Luc and Michelle’s) at St. Hilaire de Loulay a few months ago for a morning orange juice and chatted to the new Patronne. Sadly Luc died some years ago shortly after they both retired. She said that Michelle was still living happily in retirement nearby.
I’m also glad to hear that the Fish Restaurant is still open, but then I never really doubted it would be as they always had plenty of non routier clientele.
On that subject and Malc’s E numbers, I never heard that before, I always work on my own R code. R is for resto and if there is one that you need to get to the ban doesn’t apply.
Dogs are generally permitted in restos still in France though normally banned in food shops. I generally don’t take my cargos in though, after 500 kms talking to a dog, would you? 
My big advantage now over you big wheelers is that I can still run all the old N and D routes, I rarely run a/routes and never péages, which means almost every trip is a jaunt down memory lane. 
One routier that hasn’t been mentioned but which I am now a regular at as I frequently drive down to the refuges in Cahors, Rodez and Carcassonne is the Drome alongside the little airport at Livernon, about 20kms west of Figeac on the D 802.
Nice and quiet, not much traffic and the airport closed at night. Big tarmac lorry park 5 courses, kir, repas, café for around €14.30. Best of all open 7/7. I came back from Millau in August on a bank holiday intending to overnight there but eat in the caravan (it was a pleasure trip to a big pétanque do with wife and dog) and breakfast in the morning and found it open. There were several big parties of locals in all paying top prices but the lone other driver and us got served as usual at the usual price.
Just curios, Spardo- where do you sleep & what do they charge these days? I’m thinking of strolling down memory lane with a car before the winter sets in.
harry:
Just curios, Spardo- where do you sleep & what do they charge these days? I’m thinking of strolling down memory lane with a car before the winter sets in.
To start with I towed my little caravan when on night out jobs but it was too expensive in extra fuel.
Then I managed to get digs with some of the people I was collecting from or delivering to, but the problem with that is that people are so kind and hospitable that I found that the wine flowed too freely and too late.
There were some mornings when I was genuinely worried that I might not be fit for the road.
So, when the jobs began coming thick and fast I decided to get properly organised and sleep in the car. Just like back in the old days of ‘cab hotel’ though now, with a taylor-made 6 inch foam mattress, a double high tog quilt over and under and my usual 2 pillows I can stretch right out and am snug as a bug in a rug, be it the the Alps in winter (still needed windows open) or the south in summer (definitely needed windows open).
I only work Monday to Saturday so that I can plan around an open routier and always use those for security, or at least a feeling of such with all the blokes I’ve dined with camped around me.
So, sorry Harry can’t tell you anything about costs in that department except to say that one very kind French couple near Lyon knowing I was on a very long 3 day trip from the Dordogne, via Rennes to Annecy and then back home, took me into their home for a wonderful meal but, with no spare room, put me up in an Etap hotel nearby (not really, 25 kms away, they insisted on collecting and redelivering me so they did 100 kms that night on top of a days work for each of them ) at their expense. 
The cost was €40 including free wifi.
If you are thinking of wandering before winter sets in you’d better be quick. This summer weather won’t last for ever. If you wander down the south west drop me a line, but I’ll be in England for a week or 2 in mid October…brrrr.
Spardo, you sleep in a Berlingo? You must be crazy…
Seriously though, what do you do for sleep when you have the muts with you? As surely you can’t sleep in it then.
GBPub:
Spardo, you sleep in a Berlingo? You must be crazy…Seriously though, what do you do for sleep when you have the muts with you? As surely you can’t sleep in it then.
Don’t want to hijack this thread about routiers too much but, as we are talking about spending nights at them:
With the rear seats folded forward my made to measure foam mattress measures 5’6" in length corner to corner. Guess what height I am?
Better than draped over the bonnet of a Mk 1 Atki.
I have one or two dog cages with me depending on how many and how large the dogs are. These fold flat and go on the roof when I park up wrapped, with the dogs’ bedding, in a groundsheet (I did start by carrying them there when empty but fuel expense changed that after one trip).
I normally manage to organise the trip to overnight without dogs. This often means setting off in the afternoon to a routier an hour or so away from the collection point, and then delivering within the next day, overnighting again at a routier if necessary. Planning is everything.
Having said that I was asked to transport a 45 kg male Dobermann from Rennes to Annecy. I went part of the way from here the day before and was hoping for some digs for us both near Vierzon. The French Dobermann rescue organisation I have done a lot of trips for had no members nearby so we shared the sleeping quarters at La Loge on the road between there and Orleans. A small detour. Dobies have a scary reputation but all the ones I have carried have been real sweeties. The night was fine apart from the fact that every half hour or so, for reassurance I suppose, he woke me up with a kiss on the nose.
That round trip from here (Dordogne) to here was 1,826 kms and, believe it or not, no sooner had I got home than they were on the phone again - 2 Dobies, male and female, from Albertville to Rennes,
1,918 kms 
. I can just about manage one but not two so stipulated that I would have to park up near Albertville and, early doors do the whole job in one go, 13 hours on the road. In the event this French family put me up for the night half way up a mountain in their house and fed me, after an anxious enquiry, raw beef. Marinéed for 24 hours beforehand in all sorts of wine. oils and herbs, it was delicious.
I was very glad to unload and park up at the routier about 20kms east of Rennes, can’t remember the name but as it wasn’t a favourite foodwise, I’m not too bothered.
OK ,all I have to do is knock on the door of any dog owner in France & say I know Spardo. Joking apart ,the French are very hospitable people.
PS; How can a working Routier hi-jack a Routier thread…?
harry:
OK ,all I have to do is knock on the door of any dog owner in France & say I know Spardo. Joking apart ,the French are very hospitable people.
PS; How can a working Routier hi-jack a Routier thread…?
Yes, a working routier again, 9 years after retirement. 
I love it, the only thing I missed, not the rattling frigo engine, not the jobsworth’s at RDCs who say when you are 5 minutes late ‘come back Friday’, and not the sweating to get a pallet packed by monkeys into a space too small for it - but la vie sur la route. And that is what I’ve reclaimed, the comradeship on the road, without the aggro.
Is their anywhere where you can get a list of Routiers along with opening times on the net as I only know the ones I have seen (if you know what I mean), and it looks like we are starting to do more French work so will come in handy.
Chez Jo is that the one on the N1 just above Abbeville■■?
Ben9:
Is their anywhere where you can get a list of Routiers along with opening times on the net as I only know the ones I have seen (if you know what I mean), and it looks like we are starting to do more French work so will come in handy.Chez Jo is that the one on the N1 just above Abbeville■■?
Try the following site, not entirely up to date but good enough and done by French drivers.
Try this site, although i’m not sure how up to date it is 
restoroutier.free.fr/page_principale.htm
KP