France’s famed cafe culture is in deep crisis, forcing rural bars to defend their role as the hub of village life with services like theater, groceries or wireless Internet.
In the Breton hamlet of Sainte Anne du Houlin, Joel Hamard invites professional story tellers to his bar, the “Couleur Cafe,” to entertain customers who can also enjoy a bowl of soup made from local produce.
“When I first came here, the old people in the village would say this used to be a really lively place and I wanted to recreate that,” he said.
PHOTO: AFP
“You have to be open to everyone in a bar today, including children. It’s the only way you can hope to survive,” he said.
As in countless other villages, the cafe in Sainte Anne du Houlin plays a key social role as the only place where people can meet up regularly.
“In the hamlet it’s all there is,” Hamard said.
PHOTO: AFP
Judging by reactions to the story evening, Hamard’s gamble has paid off.
“I really liked it. It was funny, really enjoyable. A rich universe,” said Matthieu Boucher who had driven three quarters of an hour to join the show’s audience of children, grandparents and adults of all ages.
Local councilor Elisabeth Reperant said the bar had given a much needed boost to village life.
“We are in a rural area and we don’t have many places for young people to go. There is an event every weekend and on weekdays too in the summer. It’s definitely an advantage for us,” she said.
It’s a similar story elsewhere in Brittany.
In the picturesque port of La Roche Bernard, bar owner Eric Gerardin has organized an evening of improvisational theater, with local actors playing to peals of laughter.
“For me a cafe is a lively, dynamic place. It’s a forum. A village square,” Gerardin said.
Gerardin and Hamard are members of “Cafe de Pays Bretagne,” a network of 30 bars and cafes that offer cultural events like theater, concerts, art exhibitions and debates, as well as food made from local produce.
“It’s crucial for me to be in a network. Having a recognizable label helps the bar’s image and it also allows me to meet with colleagues and exchange ideas and experiences,” Gerardin said.
There is no denying the scale of the problem facing France’s cafes, however — particularly in rural areas.
Industry figures show that there were more than 200,000 cafes and bars in France in 1960. Today there are fewer than 30,000. And the current financial crisis has hit survivors hard. The average French bar saw its turnover drop 12 percent last year.
Authorities are so worried about the decline of cafe culture that this year the French senate hosted a major crisis conference in Paris.
“Cafes must offer a variety of services,” Minister for Rural Development Michel Mercier said. “And what is right for rural areas is also the case for towns and cities.”
Live entertainment is just one way rural bars are attempting to heed the minister’s call. Other establishments offer Internet services such as wireless hot spots in a bid to attract younger Web-savvy customers.
“Cafes must not be disconnected from the world their customers live in. An Internet terminal isn’t enough,” Patrick Villemin, secretary-general of Heineken France, told the Paris conference.
“A 20-year-old needs to be able to use their smartphone. Wi-Fi access is the minimum you need,” Villemin said.
France’s bar owners list many reasons why things are going so badly.
People prefer to stay at home and watch television instead of going out; new laws ban smoking in public places; there are tough drink driving limits and crippling business taxes.
Critics argue, meanwhile, that cafes should make a greater effort to keep their prices down.
Maryan Kujawa, who runs a small bar that survives thanks to help from the local council in the small village of Saint Symphorien near the Breton capital Rennes, accepts this up to a point.
“It’s the breweries who hold the key to the problem,” he said. “Every year they increase the price of their beer and we are forced to pass that on to the customer.”
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS