For over 80 years, the Relais Routiers chain has brought together restaurants offering meals for a very reasonable price for travellers in France. But now their numbers are dwindling.
Their goal was to offer a “home away from home” for professional drivers, but they also became stops for individuals and families travelling on the roads of France.
You can spot a Relais Routiers by its recognisable red, white and blue round sign. These restaurants are found along the routes nationales – major public roads that connect cities and regions across the country, away from the motorway (autoroute) network.
They offer reasonably-priced cooked meals and set menus, as well as shower facilities for truck drivers.
Relais Routiers were once an integral part of France’s roads and culinary culture, but are gradually disappearing – there were 3,500 of them in the 1960s and today, there are just 300 left in France.
All the Relais Routiers restaurants in France. (Photo: Relais Routiers)Speaking to French regional media, France 3 Auvergne, driver Guewen expressed the importance of these rest stops for his job. “It’s important just to have a shower. I’m often in the lorry all week long. It allows me to have a shower and then go for a meal, which gives us a chance to step away from the work environment for a bit and see people – even if we’re all in the same line of work.
“If there were no more Relais Routiers stops tomorrow, I’m not sure I’d carry on spending the whole week on the road”, Guewen adds.
But despite their decline, some restaurant owners are motivated to keep these service stops open.
Cécile Espagnon, manages Les Portes du Velay (located on the N88, Haute-Loire) – she has four employees, and her service station is open 15 hours a day.
“We try to be there for them. I hope they’re happy. I’ve been here for 15 years now, and I have my regular drivers who come here. They’ve watched my children grow up, so we have a real family atmosphere”, she said to France 3.
And some establishments are even benefiting from tourism. In the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (a département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region), Juliette Corcione, 24, has decided to take over the Villeneuve motorway restaurant, the last one in the département, founded in 1958.
Just off the main road, Chez Juliette offers a set menu for €19.50, lunch and dinner, with all home-made dishes. A local producer delivers to the restaurant every week.
The Relais also welcomes passing lorry drivers, such as Yannick Bastard [yes, that is his name, it’s less funny in French] 54, who has seen the rest stops close one after the other, “since it reopened, I’ve become quite a loyal customer. Sometimes I even make a detour just to come here,” he tells French media France Info.
Truck drivers’ contracts reimburse them €16 per meal – this is why you often find set menus for around €17 to €18. The menus usually include cold starters, one or more home-cooked main courses, cheese and desserts.
Although they might be designed for truckers, the restaurants are open to everyone, and charge the same price for all customers.
The label was created in the 1930s by French journalist François de Saulieu.
