Sometimes things just don't work out the way you want them to. We had an idea that we would have lunch in Pouilly-sur-Loire in a nice restaurant called Chez Mémère (Granny's Place) but they turned us away. We hadn't reserved, and even on a Tuesday in late October the place was all booked up. We had to move on.
It was getting to be 12:30, and in rural France if you want to eat lunch you have to arrive at a restaurant that's open and not complet by about one o'clock at the latest. Between two o'clock and seven o'clock, everything is closed. Between Pouilly and our destination near Chablis, there are two or three small towns, but if we didn't manage to get something to eat in Pouilly we were going to have to fast until dinner.
We ended up at a place called Les 200 Bornes. Nothing could have been tackier, and the food was acceptable but not more. The woman who ran the place — a roadhouse/truckstop on the Nationale 7 highway — was very pleasant and efficient. In fact, besides one other man, who was finishing his lunch when we arrived, we were her only customers. What a contrast with the reputedly gastronomique restaurant at the other end of the town. We passed several other restaurants as we drove through the centre-ville, but they were all shut up tight.
More tomorrow...
notice the name on the gas pump? SATAN!
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Ken :) May I ask:
ReplyDelete1) What does borne mean? I have forgotten!
2) Is that a current gas pump, or an old-fashioned one just for show?
Borne is slang for kilometer. 200 bornes are 200 kilometers.
DeleteCallie looks pretty cautious. She knows you guys aren't used to traffic and is ready to round you up to safety if need be.
ReplyDeleteAre your photos hinting at the aftermath of your not-so-good lunch?
So sorry! I hoped it was the lunch of your life! Lol
ReplyDeleteNo, just another lunch. It was fine, but not too exciting.
ReplyDeleteGood food or not, I love the look of the "200 bornes" restaurant! It's the sort of place I never go to, and that may well die out in our lifetimes...
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Betty. I guess we had gotten our hopes up about the other restaurant, so this one seemed like a letdown. It certainly wasn't bad, but it was kind of sad to be about the only customers.
DeleteWe'll have to go and park our 1956 2CV outside. 200 km - from Paris? We tend to judge a "caff" like this by the number of white vans outside when looking for a lunch stop.And of course Callie won't be turned away. Pauline
ReplyDeleteHi Pauline, see my post today for details. No little white vans to be seen! But it was the only game in town that day, and we were hungry.
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