Finding a Great French Country Restaurant: A Traveler’s Guide

Looking for a good restaurant in your French travels? As usual, things are a little different in France. This is the land of the Destination Restaurant. Cities have lots of restaurants, but often very good and even important restaurants are located in the middle of nowhere, typically on the chef’s home turf. The French will think nothing of traveling great distances just to find a great meal. And a chef will think nothing of installing a restaurant where no mere mortal can find it. 

 We’ve gradually come to know the good restaurants in our coin (corner), but then, we live here! Even then, we had to sniff them out.

Case in point: there are not many good restaurants in Cluny, but three fun, tasty, good value restaurants where we love to dine that are in small villages nearby come to mind. Some are in villages without so much as a boulangerie. I can’t imagine that tourists, other than in-the-know French ones, ever find them (they are L'Auberge Larochette in Bourgvilain, L'Estaminet in Mazille, and Le Relais d'Ozenay in Ozenay).

So, if you’re traveling around the countryside, how do you find that secret treasure that you’ll be talking about forever? And I’m assuming here that you’re looking not for a famous 3 star Michelin experience, but something memorable and affordable.

Of course there is always the Michelin Guide, but another way is to do a search of the famous chefs of France, who very often have moderately priced brasseries or bistros in their hood. A couple of examples, in our neighborhood: Georges Blanc has his famous starry restaurant gourmand in the rural village of Vonnas in the Bresse. But right across the street is his Ancienne Auberge: affordable, delicious, and charming. He also has a brasserie in nearby Macon, Le Saint Laurent and also Le Château Igé in the small town of Igé in the Maconnais. Another is Chef Michel Troisgros, whose pricey restaurant is in Roanne. But in a rural spot in the Brionnais is the amazing La Colline de Columbier.

Of course you can pour over travel sites, but my favorite tact is to look to bloggers for local knowledge. Ex-pats bloggers are everywhere (French blogs too, if you speak the langauge), and you'll get real insider info.  Try adding “blog” or “blogger” to your Google search for a particular region, and the local blogs will pop right up. 

As we've discussed before, if you're looking for very cheap but good food, cherchez les camionettes. Every French workman owns a little white truck, and if you see a cluster of them in a parking lot, you've found the spot.

Another way to find restaurants: the local tourisme. Chat them up about what you’re looking for, and with luck you’ll be directed to a great spot. We were in Annecy once, and we asked at the tourisme for a fun restaurant but something quieter, out of town and away from tourists. We ended up having one of our most memorable French lunches (in fact, we're going back next week!).

Or you can use Ron’s method. When we’re in a small town, he seeks out the classiest, most stylish, best looking woman around, then walks right up and asks her for a recommentation. I think it's a ruse, but I have to admit it seems to work well. I think he’s starting to behave way too much like a true Frenchman! 

Photos below: with friends Pete and Dee, our find near Annecy, Auberge du Lac in Veyrier-du-lac is toes in the water with a backdrop of mountains. Next, we scored a Provencal jewel when our friends Alix and Paul took us to Bistrot Le 5 in Ménerbes. In the Pouilly-Fuissé wine area, you must try La Courtille, with its great terrace (no photo of this one). If you're in the Beaujolais, check out Auberge du Paradis (this one has a Michelin star actually, it's a bit pricey) In St. Amour, as Ron and friend Chris are doing in the last photo, or the lovely Chez la Rose in nearby Julianas, or La Tour d'Orée in Oingt. Well, I could go on and on…but I've bet you've got some to share too!  

In the COMMENTS:  Thank you all so much for the beautiful comments about Pierre, which were comforting to read for us, as they were for Nicole. By email, Natalia sent a lovely piece by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which you've heard before but it's a lovely thought for the occasion: "To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."