We will be driving from the Bastogne, Belgium, area down to Normandy in France on a Sunday. Will we be able to find eateries, etc. open along the route on a Sunday? Thanks.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Restaurants generally do not close on Sunday. Especially not those at rest stops.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33755 posts
Flunch is always open 7/7. 3 around Rouen alone, Enjoy driving on a Sunday without trucks. If you route via Paris don't travel towards Paris after noon on a Sunday.
Use a sat nav and look for fast food along your route and you will see plenty of McD's and Quicks open on a Sunday.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
My personal experience has been that gas stations in France on Sunday can be surprisingly hard to find, many are closed. In France, they seem to take the "day of rest" literally, even at gas stations. Horrors, think of all the euros they're missing.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7897 posts
Some places, especially Mom and Pop-type restaurants, shut down after lunch, any day of the week, so you can't necessarily stroll into a place at 3:20 in the afternoon for a meal. If eating at a "regular" time for lunch, then no problem.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
I just want to second the warning about closed gas stations on Sundays. If you are traveling on the autoroute--they're open, but otherwise you may have a hard time finding one. Gas up on Saturday or get a chip-and-PIN credit card that will allow you to use automated gas pumps in France (best is the GlobeTrek Visa true chip-and-PIN issued by Andrews Federal Credit Union in Maryland).
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Also, don't underestimate the quality of the food at the rest station restaurants. It's often surprisingly good.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33755 posts
Fuel is cheaper in Belgium so fill up before you leave.
Actually fuel is vastly cheaper in Luxembourg, and all stations in Luxembourg will have the same price within a couple of tenths of a cent so it much cheaper if you are in Bastogne to pop across and brim it before your trip. Even the service areas on Luxembourgish freeways have the same prices.
It varies between Belgium and France from week to week as to who is cheaper so I use an app to see the cheapest French fuel. I have found that the app Carbeo is very accurate. It will also depend between Belgium and France on the fuel needed. My experience is that France is cheaper on Diesel recently. I don't know about petrol.
The app works well in France because by law almost all French filling stations must send the government their prices and the changes to them immediately, and that's where the app gets its numbers. I haven't found a similar app for Belgium yet.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4413 posts
Just watch out for those 'Sunday drivers'... ;-)