GOOD FOOD, LOW PRICES: STILL ROLLING FOR TRUCKERS | M6 | 66 minutes

The unexpected comeback of traditional French truck-stop restaurants.
Once numbering nearly 4,000 in the 1980s, only a few hundred remain today — victims of the disappearance of national highways, changes in transport, and evolving lifestyles.
Yet some establishments have managed to reinvent themselves without abandoning their core values: friendliness, generosity, and affordable prices.
Near Chartres, Laetitia, a 30-year-old restaurateur, single-handedly brings a truck-stop restaurant back to life by focusing on homemade food and a family-style atmosphere.
On the road between Arras and Le Touquet, Sébastien de la Borde, a Michelin-starred chef, proves that gastronomy, truck-stop tradition, and economic success can go hand in hand.
Truck driver Pepito has been traveling France’s Route Nationale 7 for over 20 years behind the wheel of his fluorescent green truck. Every evening, he stops to dine at these restaurants, which are essential to his balance on the road. He reminds us just how vital these places are for truck drivers — true landmarks along their journey.
Finally, in Reims, Adrien opened one of the country’s first urban truck-stop restaurants a year ago, right in the city center. There, he revisits nostalgia and adapts it for an urban clientele.
Thanks to people like them, truck-stop restaurants — far from disappearing — are finding new life by adapting to contemporary expectations while preserving their soul.