Roadside Toilets: Belgium/France

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Hee hee! I used to do a lot more practical posts like this! My SISTER is coming to visit and since I’m pretty sure she doesn’t really want me to call her all the time about all the stuff I keep thinking she needs to know, I’m just blogging about it instead.

Traveling with kids—so fun! Until you’re stuck in traffic and someone has to go to the bathroom in a foreign country and you finally find a gas station and can’t get past the barrier into the bathroom. No one needs that stress. Here are my and Eloise’s tips for roadside bathrooms in Belgium and France.

I love the convenience of Europe’s highway rest stops. You can pull directly off the highway into a huge parking lot with gas pumps, toilettes, restaurants, a small shop, grassy areas for pets, picnic tables, and sometimes a playground. Then, poof! You’re back on the highway! It’s not an exit at all, just a quick road bypass where you can stop and gas up. Some of the restaurants even extend over the highway, which I think is cool, but we have never stopped long enough to try one out.

Belgian bathrooms usually cost from 50 cents up to a euro. At first this displeased me. Then I started noticing these are some of the nicest public restrooms I’ve ever used. There’s toilet paper, they are very clean, they don’t smell bad, there’s soap and paper towels. Often someone is standing by to disinfect door handles after you leave. And kids are free! So now I keep coins on hand and pay with gratitude when the opportunity arises. Sometimes, however, the fee can only be paid with a European contactless debit card. I don’t have a solution to this, but usually coins will save the day when you’re in a tight spot bathroom-wise.

So you go inside and find the bathrooms. To get through the turnstile, put in 70 cents of coins or wave your contactless debit card over the card square. Push through the turnstile. This is important: take your receipt! It should pop up out of the top of the turnstile. It’s not just a receipt; in fact, you can apply the 70 cents you just paid to use the toilet to anything in the shop when you come out. Inside the bathroom, in my experience, is quite clean. Eloise recommends having your mom come in and clean the seat for you. I recommend washing your hands with soap before you come out. Here’s another nice thing about Belgian bathrooms: Little kids are free! They have their own mini door! Don’t pay for them! Kids pee for free!

Outside the bathroom, it’s time to use that coupon if you want. The bakery selection is often very fresh with baguettes, pain chocolat, croissants, etc. Rest stops also stock fresh fruit, pasta, salads, sandwiches, charcuterie trays, vegetables, caffeinated beverages—all kinds of things you may or may not feel like eating on the road. This part devolves if I let the kids come in with me to pick something to eat because there are so many good options but of course they want donuts or candy, which they obviously can’t have in place of dinner. Everyone feels dissatisfied and we get back on the road.

French rest stops are much the same with really one big difference: in my experience, the bathrooms are free and GROSS. At a minimum they are very stinky. It will make you very glad to be wearing a covid mask. Here Eloise HIGHLY RECOMMENDS having your mom come in to clean the toilet. Another big difference in French toilets: I guess they are female urinals? The toilets almost never have seats. This is very challenging for short little girls. I cleaned a lot of French bathrooms. Sometimes they have hand sanitizer in the stall so you can try to sanitize the area, but I tried that on some bird poop on my bag and it didn’t even help a little, so I’m not sure how effective it would be on toilets. My recommendation is to bring a handbag sized pack of sanitizing wipes for anyone whose height or whatever prevents their ability to “hover.” Fortunately, though, they do usually have toilet paper and plenty of soap and sinks.

Isaac came out of the last French place we stopped and told Chris with big eyes in no uncertain terms the bathroom was not in usable condition, and that was in an otherwise pretty nice stop.

The roadside stop shops carry basic clothes, toiletries, candy, souvenirs and tech items like any gas station or airport. It’s not like Buc-ee’s or anything, but I like to look for my favorite French bonbons in the cute tins. Last time I got the rose flavored ones. Often I get the anis ones because the kids don’t like them and therefore won’t steal them (Chris still does. Sigh). There are also frequently McDonald’s, Starbucks, etc., plus healthy-ish grab-and-go or cafeteria-style dinner options too. It saves a lot of time over exiting somewhere random and going through a hundred or so roundabouts trying to find somewhere to stop for food or gas.

So there you have it: that’s everything I have to say about roadside bathrooms, possibly forever. I hope it helps!