Backpack on the shoulders, Inti 17 years looking for the new stopover in Bordeaux. The teenager browses the screen of his mobile phone to find the place. “I activated the GPS, otherwise I would be a bit lost,” he says, before seeing his car and picking up the pace. This Monday, July 10, is the first day of commissioning of the new rest area and Inti is not the only one having trouble finding its location. Many regulars first visited…
Backpack on the shoulders, Inti 17 years looking for the new stopover in Bordeaux. The teenager browses the screen of his mobile phone to find the place. “I activated the GPS, otherwise I would be a bit lost,” he says, before seeing his car and picking up the pace. This Monday, July 10, is the first day of commissioning of the new rest area and Inti is not the only one having trouble finding its location. Many regulars first went to 142, rue Terres-de-Bord, the former departure point for Flixbus vehicles.
Located behind the Metpark Paludate car park, the new rest area is now the departure point for Flixbus coaches. Cap with the effigy of the company targeted on the skull, Anaël is responsible throughout the summer for helping and directing travelers. To meet the expectations of users, people sometimes have to juggle between several languages. “From Bordeaux, we have many connections with southern Europe, especially with Spain and Portugal,” he points out. According to Pierre Mercé, project manager at the traffic department of Bordeaux Métropole, during the summer, more than 120 coaches pass through Bordeaux every day.
Economic journeys…
Among the fifteen or so people waiting for their coach, a few left France’s borders. Sitting on a bench, surrounded by their luggage, Sophie and Jake, two Australians on vacation in France, wait before boarding for Barcelona. The attractive ticket prices motivated the two adventurers to turn to this means of transport. “By coach, tickets to Barcelona cost 40 euros per head. By plane or by train, the prices go up to 150 euros,” says Jake. A little further on, Mike, an 82-year-old Briton, who has lived near Bergerac for thirty years, is preparing to embark on a 24-hour journey to reach the German city of Hanover. During this journey, the bus makes a stopover in Paris. “It’s a kind of adventure”, summarizes the octogenarian, the laughing eye.
“I’m not going to fly for an hour’s flight”
More economical, coach travel continues to appeal. For the first time, Laetitia, 42, and her son Antoine, 6, take the bus to go on vacation. This year, Brittany and the city of Brest won. The duration of the journey, the stopover in Nantes and the arrival at night did not discourage Laetitia. “This year, I couldn’t take the car. Gasoline and tolls have become too expensive,” said the mother. For two round trips Bordeaux-Brest, Laetitia pays 175 euros. It is also the financial argument that pushes Matis, 20, a law student in Bordeaux, to take the bus to Paris. “I decided to leave yesterday. The trains were really too expensive, ”he points out.
And ecological?
For other travellers, ecological reasons lead them to travel by coach. Cédric, in his thirties and living in Bordeaux for a month, returns to Lyon to see his relatives. “I’m not going to fly for an hour,” he insists. As for the train, certainly more in line with its ecological aspirations, the relationship between travel time and ticket prices is not in its eyes advantageous.
Three stops for coaches
The new stop is located in front of the Metpark Paludate car park. Initially, this site with four platforms will be assigned to the sole company Flixbus, which represents 60% of the activity of long-distance coach journeys. Sanitary facilities, 80 seats and green spaces, this site makes it possible to better accommodate travellers. Due to works in the Belcier district, a temporary stop has been created from July 10 to the end of August, at 11 rue des Gamins, for coaches from the Blablacar bus and Alsa companies. At the end of August, these two companies will return to the current Bordeaux Belcier roadside stop, rue Terres-de-Bord.
From the end of August, subject to the constraints due to the vagaries of construction sites in the Belcier district, the coaches will therefore have two stopping points: Bordeaux Belcier roadside stop, opposite 140 rue Terres-de-Bord: Blablacar bus and Alsa coaches and at the Bordeaux Paludate rest area, between Quai de Paludate and Boulevard Moga for Flixbus coaches.
The regular Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Keolis Bordeaux Métropole and Airport Shuttle lines remain unchanged on the north side of Saint-Jean station, Hall 2 arrival side.
