Restaurants; Sur le road

French autoroute food helps Vivienne Heller forget the horror of the motorway break

PLASTIC eggs, congealed gravy and the nauseating undernote of deep- re-fried fat; add a sprinkling of shellsuits and shiny football shirts, and you have a motorway break that's as welcome as a hole in the head. No wonder lorry drivers fiddle their tacheometers.

Nip over to France, and a road trip has infinitely more pleasurable connotations. Put aside the great sign posting, well-kept roads and adrenalin buzz of driving on the right (just one teeny memory lapse this time); it's in the service stations that our cultural differences really come to the fore. While Brits care deeply about their cars but are content to fill up on greasy overcooked food as long as it's cheap, the French draw up in bangers but insist on eating only high--grade fuel, equally as inexpensive as your Happy Eater, thanks to locally sourced, simply prepared ingredients.

I felt like une vraie Francaise as we dumped the authentically battered hire car and joined the cheerful queue at the Orleans outlet of the L'Arche chain, celebrating its 20th year. Waiting is made less tedious by a well- placed mirror above the food counter that allows you to peruse the goods in advance. Even upside down, the sight was enough to wet the appetite at 10 paces.

First, though, the drinks. Soothe tattered driving nerves with one of five different wines, four different beers - or choose from varieties of mineral water. Most thrilling was a new style of Orangina - blood orange in a plastic bottle (you heard it here first). We chose a pichet of rough red wine, which set the tone for a feast of local produce. Clued-up serving staff guided me through a range of ripe cheeses and dried meats to accompany a selection of colourful fresh salad (Assiette d'Ete, 47.90F). Vince chose the Menu Saveur (69.90F) and agonised between a huge glistening pink ham and a bloody entrecote. Under-12s get special meals in an animal tuck- box for just 34F.

The formica tables were speedily cleaned, despite the high turnover of diners - even at 11.30pm - who tucked into their meals with the gusto that the discerning French reserve for good, simple food. We polished off our mains and savoured our desserts: a delicious unsweetened tarte aux pommes let the apples do the talking; oeufs a la neige was rendered "perfect" by a sugar-shot of rich caramel. We finished off with fresh coffee from the expresso machine: buy a 7F token for a caffeine hit that will see you through till dawn.

Relaxed by wine, well fed on good food and perked up by a Grade A stimulant, we headed off into the night. A 180F meal sustained Vince and me through another five hours of motoring. Now that's what I call cost-efficient.

L'Arche outlets: autoroutes throughout France