Café Suisse et Bordeaux

The Café Suisse et Bordeaux occupies a prime position on the Place de la Pierre in the old town and has been trading in various forms since the 18th century. It is the sort of café that every French provincial town has, and Valence's version happens to come with a claim to Napoleonic heritage. Whether or not you believe that the young Bonaparte sat here nursing a coffee in the 1780s, the location in the heart of the old town makes it the obvious choice for a break between sights.

The kitchen turns out solid brasserie food — salads, omelets, steak frites, the reliable standards of French cafe cooking. The terrace fills up at lunch with shoppers, locals, and tourists. In the evenings it is quieter but still animated. It is not exceptional food, but it is dependable, the service is professional, and the building has genuine age about it.

eating out bar restaurant
A story
Napoleon Bonaparte famously ate at the original establishment on this site when he was a young lieutenant stationed in Valence in the mid-1780s. The cafe has traded on this connection ever since — the claim that Napoleon took his morning coffee here is almost certainly true, since it was the principal cafe of the town in his time and he lived nearby. Whether he would recognise anything about the current establishment is doubtful.

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