Carriageway Travels

Our GPS will occasionally call the highway the carriageway, and say things like, turn half-right and follow the parallel road. These directions can be a little confusing to follow, as the amount of roads in an area can make the directions ambiguous at best. We’ve spent a good deal of time traversing the carriageways in Southern Europe and there are great disparities between the rest stops.

Two particular examples come to mind as the best and (hopefully) the worst, in Belgium and France respectively. The others fall somewhere in the middle with no outstanding features which warrant your attention.

In France, I found myself in need of a restroom, so we pulled over at the next rest stop. It was little more than a bathroom with an area to park. The sign on the building indicated the water was not potable, and advised us not to drink it. Inside, the women’s room brought back memories of the old chicken coop on my Grandmother’s farm: stinky with years of feather and bird poop residue. The sink/counter area was crowded with trash, and the whole place had a grimy atmosphere. I approached a stall and opening the door found a hole in the ground, surrounded by a sloped metal area, which I assumed caused excrement to drain back to hole, much like a shower. Considering the squalor surrounding me, I was pleasantly surprised when I found toilet paper. A few moments into the proceedings, water began running across the metal floor to clean the hole in the ground. I said a silent prayer of thanks, as I had considered planting my feet where the water was now running, and I would not have been happy with non-potable, hole-rinsing water on my feet. Perhaps the worst thing about this bathroom was the knowledge that Joe had a real toilet to use. Maybe someone switched the signs? Men seem much more adapted to peeing in a hole than women.

In Belgium, we stopped for dinner at the rest stop that advertised its Pizza Hut. We were hungry and still not close to our destination, and as it was Sunday, there was no guarantee of anything being open when we did arrive. It was night, so we could not see the size of the building we approached, and were surprised when, shortly after entering, we had to ride an escalator. At the top was a very large and well kept dining area over the highway. It was designed like a ski chalet with a slopped roof and windows in the side. The bathrooms had numerous stalls and were clean: they even had a Dyson air jet hand drying machine–love those.

Guests had several options for food, including the Pizza Hut specials, or selecting items from the buffet line. Fresh fruit and vegetables were available, as were homemade desserts and salads. To drink, you could select from the usual line of beverages, or you could opt for some beer or wine. Joe and I felt that selling alcoholic beverages at a rest stop was a little odd, as everyone had to drive to get there, but they acted as though this were normal. The food was delicious and reasonably priced, and in short time we found ourselves back on the road.

I don’t think there is any way to predict the quality of your rest stop before arrival, but I recommend choosing one that has a restaurant, as they will most likely have actual toilets.