The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The terraces, "DNA of France" but not enough to satisfy Parisian restaurateurs

2020-06-07T22:04:36.031Z


If the Parisian terraces are one of the symbols of the capital, they are not enough to satisfy the restaurateurs who await the reopening of the rooms.


Today to the rescue of Parisian restaurateurs until they stretch out for a summer on the surrounding sidewalks: the terraces symbolize " a French art of living and a form of freedom ". However, they will not be enough to fully satisfy Ile-de-France restaurateurs, who are impatiently awaiting the unofficial date of June 22 to reopen their interior rooms.

Read also: "Restaurants in Paris: we can't wait for June 22!"

" Terraces are terrible magnets ", explains Alain Fontaine, a restaurateur at the head of the association for the recognition of bistros and cafes in France with intangible cultural heritage. It is a place of contemplation: look at the pedestal tables, they are installed facing the street, the two chairs side by side to watch the people passing by and comment. The terrace is a spectacle, where we watch human comedy play out, ”he continues. " Le café de Flore, les Deux magots ... emblematic cafes have their own terrace ", and in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris , " the hero always returns to the terraces ", continues this bistro enthusiast.

For women

The first café terrace that saw the light of day in Paris was at Procope, in the Latin Quarter, around 1686, in order to welcome ... women who were not allowed to enter drinking establishments: "When they got out of their car, they sat at the tables on the terrace, " says Gérard Letailleur, author of the Unusual History of Parisian cafes (Perrin, 2011). They then became popular around the main boulevards during the 19th century, continues the historian.

Read also: Between cars, terraces and bike paths, space war is declared in cities

After having disappeared from the landscape for more than two and a half months, these “ natural agoras ” which are part of the “ DNA of France ”, in the words of Alain Fontaine, reappear and take over the public space in order to allow restaurateurs to accommodate more customers. In Ile-de-France, they alone allow cafes and restaurants that have them to be able to open: the interior of establishments is prohibited there at least until June 21. The mayor of Paris has authorized the free extension until the end of September of ephemeral terraces, especially along shops if these give their agreement, and the occupation of up to three parking spaces. The City has also opened up the possibility of pedestrianizing around twenty streets and making Paris a giant open-air terrace.

A discriminatory measure?

But this reopening of the only terraces in Île-de-France is not unanimous among restaurateurs, far from it. Until the unofficial date of June 22 to reopen in full, many of them are ranting, especially as the weather is not at the rendezvous. Authorizing terraces is good. But not all establishments have them, far from it. To postpone the opening of restaurants in Paris for another three weeks is to cut off the ripple effect of Parisian catering on all of French tourism. Billions are in the process of flying away for the benefit of other European capitals, "explained for example a group of ten chefs in a forum at Le Figaro this week.

Read also: In La Grande-Motte, restaurants and campsites in order of battle

Questioned by Le Figaro , Alain Fontaine recalls that only a third of restaurants classified in the orange zone have a terrace. And only half of them would have opened it. " The horizon is extremely closed for many of us ," he explains. Telework punishes us because people do not go out anymore, we no longer have tourists, consumption habits have made the lines move, with take-away sales in particular and now we are at the mercy of climatology. We have been on our nerves for 5 years now with the attacks, the yellow vests, the strikes and now the covd-19. It is hard on morale, but also economically, especially since we do not know whether to get our employees out of short-time working. I installed a terrace for the last week, but I lost money there ... "

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2020-06-07

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.