A goblet of beer (6 euros) or mulled wine (5 euros) in hand, mask in a capilotade under the chin or dangling in the ear, there are a hundred boys and girls, mostly under the age of 30 years, chatting and laughing in front of this well-known café in the heart of the Marais, in Paris (4th).
They are so numerous this Friday evening at 7 p.m., the last day before the entry into force of the curfew at 6 p.m., that they occupy all the place of the 260 children, so named in tribute to the students of the Saint-Gervais hospital school who died in deportation.
It's cold but they are well wrapped up, some have even sat down on the benches.
"We clearly miss cafes"
“There are so many people that it's as if the terraces were open!
Exclaims Cyril, a young business school graduate looking for a job.
That the curfew be brought forward from 8 pm to 6 pm “is not a big surprise” in his eyes.
"We're just going to start drinking earlier in the afternoon," he said.
Before confiding: “We clearly miss the cafes.
"
Next to him, Theo, a computer science student, adds: “Having to come home at 6 pm is emm… but we have no choice.
So we take advantage of the last evening until 8 p.m.
»A student in interior design, Clément understands that« inspections are rare in the Marais ».
Enrolled in letters and philosophy, Othman, 25, is categorical: “The curfew is better than total confinement.
Suddenly, that leaves us the possibility of starting the aperitif at 3 pm!
It's still nice to get together, especially when all the lessons are at a distance.
As for his grandmother Brigitte, with whom he lives in the 11th district, "she is worried but I'm careful, that doesn't prevent me from going out".
A second-year law student at the Sorbonne, Mathias, 19, says: “I came to unwind after my partials organized in distance like the lessons.
"
"Tomorrow, we will eat pebbles"
Tomorrow is another day… which Emma, with a law degree, intends to take advantage of to “organize a romantic evening with Noë in [their] studio in Saint-Mandé (Val-de-Marne).
We will put candles and drink Bordeaux.
"In the meantime, the lovebirds have decided to" take advantage of the last night out ".
Of course, continues the young girl, “when we invite friends, it's not more than four, five people… Not like on New Year's Eve when there were about fifty of us in a beautiful house near Dijon.
"
A few streets further on, a crowd also formed in front of another beer and mulled wine bar.
“We make 80% of the turnover between 6 and 8 pm,” announces the waitress.
“Tomorrow, we're going to eat pebbles because I don't think people will have an aperitif between 4 and 6 pm!
", Worries the manager of the cafe, who does not hide it:" The police, who came by a few days ago, told us that next time, I would be entitled to an administrative closure with fines for grouping of people.
"
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Student in political science attached to denounce "police violence", Gabriel, who presents himself as "the grandson of Claude Chabrol", is sure: "The coronavirus?
My grandfather would have made a movie of it!
"
