If the strength of the euro is making you consider holidaying at home this year, I've got something that I think will change your mind - French food.

Our Gallic neighbours are also feeling the economy bite, and "le crunch" is causing restaurateurs to offer some bargains.

Expats on our forum are recommending their local restaurants' "anti-crise" menus from as little as €3.50. But even without special offers, it’s easy to find a three-course meal with a bottle of wine for around €15 per person - good value even if that does equate to £15.

The French have always been democratic when it comes to food, and even truckers are treated to gastronomic treats you’d never find in a roadside caff over here.

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BACKGROUND

• The cheese-lover's guide to France

• The cunning holiday guide to France in August

• The budget guide to the French Riviera

• Deauville: a classy Channel resort

• Don't pass Pas de Calais

Related Internet Links

• Peregrine's France: the Sunday Times francophile reveals all

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• Life is a carnival in France

The Relais Routiers brand was created for truck drivers with the aim of providing good food at a reasonable price.

Benedicte Lapeyrere of Tourism Horizons says: “They are actually open to everyone and provide simple traditional French food. Most of the time it’s excellent and very affordable.”

Don’t be put off by the other clientele though. “They can sometimes be a bit intimidating, as you have all the big trucks parked outside – can you imagine what it was like before the smoking ban? - but they are always run by very welcoming people. At the end of the day, truckers in France do put a big emphasis on their lunch so they are a guarantee of good food.”

It's a good lesson in not judging a book by its cover, or rather a restaurant by its décor.

In Britain, if an eaterie doesn’t care much about their aesthetics, it’s fair to assume they don’t care much about their food either. In France the opposite is true – most local restaurant owners care so much about the food that making the place look nice is merely an afterthought.

So do as one of our forum-users, Quillan, says and look for somewhere that looks a bit "rough" on the outside to get the best food. Writer Kevin Raymond recently enjoyed a meal in Le Poujol-sur-Orb in Languedoc-Roussillon that started with a huge baguette, ham and salad and was followed by a pot of delicious cassoulet with wine and then coffee. The bill? €11 each.

“It was the sort of place that, until you get in the door you can't easily tell whether it's open, closed or even shut down years ago!” he says.

Following the locals’ example is also a sure-fire way of getting great grub. Our food columnist Rosa Jackson is a huge fan of Pipo Socca in Nice. “It serves the best socca - a chickpea pancake cooked in a wood fire oven - in town. It's so popular that there is often an hour-long wait on weekends, so it's best to arrive early (it opens at 5.30pm).”

Of course, eating out every night on holiday does add up, so a self-catering holiday makes a great alternative especially if you’re visiting a town or village with a good market (see the books on www.frenchstreetmarkets.co.uk for recommendations).

The French really know how to do "le pique-nique", so tuck into baguettes, cheese, charcuterie and patés fresh from the producers and fill paper bags with ripe cherries, sun-blushed apricots and rosy nectarines.

If you want your fruit even fresher, the growing trend in France is to pick your own. Writer Regine Godfrey recommends the Chapeau de Paille farms across France. Meanwhile my colleague Vincent Bertin, who lives in the Dordogne, sees it as a great way to show children where their food comes from (other than le supermarché).

So whatever you do this summer, you can be sure that if you head over to France, your tastebuds will certainly thank you for it, and your wallet won’t be too hard done by either.

Carolyn Boyd is editor of France Magazine

Visit France Magazine to subscribe (six for £6, then £19.15 every six months by direct debit to the UK) or buy a single copy (£3.99) at www.francemag.com

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