The Case Of The Empty Cafe

People have been known to spend small fortunes to recreate the quintessential French cafe. Nevertheless, it seems that the French are turning their backs on the real thing -- traditional cafe-bars, where once glasses of vin and Ricard, plates of croissants and escargot, cups of strong coffee and packs of cigarettes were de rigueur.

De rigueur no more. In fact, according to The New York Times, cafe-life in France is suddenly finis:

In 1960, France had 200,000 cafes, said Bernard Quartier, president of the National Federation of Cafes, Brasseries and Discotheques. Now it has fewer than 41,500, with an average of two closing every day...

...“The bar of a cafe is the parliament of the people,” as Honoré de Balzac wrote, but it is being less frequently visited these days, especially by the young.

Not only are the French spending less, and drinking less, cutting down on the intensity and quality of the debates, but on Jan. 1 of this year, after much huffing and puffing, France extended its smoking ban to bars, cafes and restaurants.

Marco Mayeux, 42, the bartender of Le Relais, a Paris cafe in the 18th Arrondissement, said the ban alone had cut his coffee and bar business by 20 percent.

“A place like mine doesn’t appeal to everyone; it’s very working-stiff,” he said. “There is a coffee-at-the-counter feel that isn’t attractive anymore.”

Before, clients would go inside a cafe, have a coffee, a cigarette and another coffee. But now they go out to smoke, and sometimes they do not come back, many cafe owners said...

...In Paris, Mr. Picolet, of Aux Amis du Beaujolais, said simply: “The bar-cafes? They’re finished. Twenty years ago, people would go in the morning before work for a coffee and a cigarette. And now, it’s over. Young people don’t drink during the day, and when they drink, they drink to get wasted. Smoking is forbidden and they eat en route, with coffee in a paper cup. They smoke and drink at home.”

The idea that the last impression we'll have of idyllic Paris cafes will be at Epcot or Vegas -- is horrifying. C'est une situation bien déplorable.

Comments

[Dr. Biggles]

Really? Holy moly, that's scary! Change, whoda thunkit.

Biggles