France - anyone know any particularly good motorway aires?

[loopsngeorge]

We are driving down through France to northern Spain next week. I've got my Liberte peage device ready thanks to all the advice on here!
I just wondered whether anyone knew of any particularly good 'aires' along our route - basically from Orleans down the A71 to Clermont Ferrand and then the A75 and A9 down into Spain. I know there's a huge one just south of Orleans but would be interested to know if anyone has come across any other good ones!

Or indeed any good ones between Calais and Lyons?

We like the L'Arche chain aires - a couple of small shops, and usually have a cafeteria, proper restaurant, and a sandwich bar sort of place too.

Only advice would be to avoid Wancourt (on the A1 north of Paris) - we were there on the way home last weekend and it was vile, toilets were filthy and hadn't been cleaned or checked often enough.

Ooh, thanks for that, will avoid Wancourt!

The last stop heading south on the A71 is an aire called Volcanes d'Auvergne. This is a great stop with a viewing platform from which you can see the volcanoes of central France. We have had many an ice cream there.

On the A9 just north of Spain is the Village Catalan. This is also a good stop with restaurant etc. We have stopped here for a meal a few times.

If you are a coffee drinker it is worth making sure you have a few euros to buy a coffee at the same time as filling up with fuel. The petrol station coffee from the automatic machines is very good quality and a bargain.

It is worth getting the Michelin road atlas - it has all the aires marked so that you can tell which are simple picnic stops and which have petrol stations etc. If travelling in the height of the season it is worth stopping early to avoid the rush.

It probably sounds a bit sad but we do plan our route so that we can take in favourite stops!

I hope you have a lovely time.

Hi what is a Liberte peage device?? I have googled it but it just brought up this thread.

Total always the best, according to my DP!

Ealingkate a liber-t peage device allows you to go through a separate toll booth on the motorways and automatically charges your bank account or credit card. You dont have to have one but in theory it will save you time if the motorways are busy. We are trying one out for the first time this year having spent years going through the normal toll booths.

This is the link to where we got ours:

www.aprr.fr/fr