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Telegraph
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The death of the French bistro
Laughter erupted inside the Inattendues bistro as the church bells struck the aperitif hour of six and a cork popped off a bottle of local Chardonnay in the rural French village of Vouécourt. It was a picture-postcard scene of La France Profonde in a village on the Marne river just a few miles from champagne vineyards and Colombey les Deux Eglises, the final resting place of wartime hero Charles de Gaulle. Yet the great general would surely be turning in his grave to learn that the number of France's bistros, seen as a key component of the country's social fabric, has plummeted tenfold since the Second World War and now hovers at the worryingly low 30,000 mark. So dark is the hour that this week France's notoriously fractious parliament for once clubbed together to approve a bill to bring back bistros, along with cafes and bars, to remote countryside areas. The man behind the new law, Guillaume Kasbarian, until recently president Emmanuel Macron's minister in charge of the civil service, told MPs: 'Two-thirds of French towns today no longer have any shops. Logically, even more have neither a bistro nor a café.' 'This is a way of revitalising rural areas, since cafés and bars are often the only places in these villages where people can meet up. Reopening them means bringing French villages back to life.' Under French law, a type-4 alcohol licence allows the consumption of alcoholic beverages, including those containing more than 18 per cent alcohol such as spirits. The rules drawn up by the collaborationist wartime Vichy regime in 1941 barred any new such permits from being created, so aspiring bistro or bar managers must often wait until another type-4 bar closes permanently to acquire their licence from them. However, the new legislation will allow those in rural towns and villages with less than 3,500 inhabitants that do not already have a type-4 bar to request a brand-new permit instead of waiting for an old one to become free. The local mayor can then sell it for a modest sum rather than the €10-20,000 price tag existing licences can go for. Vouécourt, population 208, is among a number of test villages that were allowed to create new type-4 licences before the new law comes into effect. Its mayor jumped on the chance to bag a bar licence, restoring a village building with local state funding to turn it into a bistro decades after the last previous one closed down. 'Our village had no type 4 licence since 2003, when it lost it, so we benefited from a free one,' said Hugues Fischer, 42, a cereal and sheep farmer with 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of land. 'For a village like ours, it's brilliant. This law can change things for small villages with few financial means like ours and if they can avoid putting 10-15,000 euros into a licence bought from a nearby town, that's great. Besides, such licences are not that easy to find.' The cause was worth fighting for, said Alain Fontaine, chairman of the French Bistros and Cafés Association and who runs a traditional bistro in Paris serving dishes such as tete de veau, kidneys, pâté de campagne, oeufs mayonnaise, Paris-Brest and Tarte Tatin. He cited a poll just out showing that 25 per cent of French people went out of their homes less than once a week in villages. 'People are dying of depression and solitude. This law can help.' The indefatigable bisto ambassador dismissed the widespread 'myth' that its name comes from the Russian word 'quick' shouted by troops at cafe owners during the occupation of Paris in 1814. 'It comes from the word 'bistrouiller' from central France that means 'eat and drink good things''. Bistros were popularised by the inhabitants of Auvergne who served basic food in Paris and around France for workers, he insisted. Initially, the victims of deindustrialisation when workers moved further and further from home, bistros were later hit by the rise of television and company canteens, not to mention social media. But the modern village bistro and cafe has a future, he insisted. 'More and more young people want to leave for the provinces. Tomorrow's bistros and cafes in France will be multi-service. You'll have the bistro, the cafe, tobacco sale, lottery tickets, grocers and basic provisions as well as books and papers.' He has been spearheading a drive to have France's bistros recognised as a UNESCO world treasure as a 'symbol of the French art of living'. 'The art of the bistro and the café must be safeguarded. Such places of conviviality, freedom and fraternity are very rare.' A first attempt to get the Vouécourt bistro going in 2022 foundered after the managers failed to fit in but for the past year it has been run by two dynamic local women who named it Inattendues, French for The Unexpected in the female form. One of them, Cindy Fischer, 41, said: 'Business is doing far better than we expected. We are able to pay three salaries in a village of 200 people.' By contrast, Le Soleil Levant (The Rising Sun) in nearby Soncourt has been shut for years with just the tattered sign in place and no sign of a replacement. But Mrs Fischer, a social worker by training, said she felt compelled to take over Vouécourt's bistro for the good of the local population. 'I used to conduct home visits in small villages. You quickly realise that people feel isolated in places where bars and bistros have shut for years and they don't have anywhere to socialise.' 'Now people come from this village and ones around, they are of all ages and social categories,' she said, though most customers were in their sixties. Among them were British couple John and Victoria Bailey who fell in love with Vouécourt after stopping off at the village by chance on their way home from Dijon 30 years ago. They soon returned after John, who worked for West Midlands police, retired early and never left. 'The only theft in 30 years has been a bicycle off the campsite and they found the culprit straight away,' chuckled Mr Bailey sipping a kir. 'I still remember our 11-year-old son blowing grass reeds with other French boys by the river,' said his wife, a retired nursery nurse. 'It was just nice to see youngsters playing with old-fashioned values. That's something we still have here.' 'This bistro has brought life back' But while in some ways idyllic, both said village life had become a far more sociable affair since the bistro opened. 'It has brought so much to the village, particularly to the elderly people because they can become so isolated. This is our meeting place,' said Mrs Bailey. 'I think bistros should even integrate with social services because that's what it basically is,' said her husband. Old timers agreed. 'There was another bistro by the Marne, another opposite the town hall and one by the local train station. They all shut and for 20 years we had nothing. It was pretty dead,' recalled Michel Jolly, 64, a retired farmer and factory worker. 'This bistro has brought life back.' Claudine Roussel, 67, whose parents and grandparents lived in the village, said: 'When I was a kid, we would go to mass and then go to the big bistro by the Marne for a lemonade. The men would drink their wine and play cards. There were meals but it was very simple fare. Then they got old and couldn't find anyone to take it over.' 'This is far better.' As the talk turned to the opening of the fishing season, a weekly menu offered simple dishes from jambon à la moutarde to omelette à la paysanne with ingredients entirely from local farms in this deeply agricultural area. Customers waxed lyrical about the chef's calf's head and tongue, classic bistro fare. Food was a key factor. 'We want people to feel at home. We offer simple grandmother's dishes and conviviality comes first. If people finish their plates, we don't whisk them away, we take it slow. We remain open until 7pm and people can play cards or knit and take their time,' said Mrs Fischer. Beyond the cafe-bar and restaurant, Inattendues sells eggs, bread and local papers, as well as local produce, such as local lentils, tisane and oil, along with nearby wines such as Muid Montsaugeonnais. The bistro serves locals and tourists who stay in the village campsite and come to see its 19th-century lavoir and the Champagne-Burgundy canal that runs by the Marne. It organises other activities, such as concerts and knitting evenings. Yolande Mestre, 64, a retired couturier who used to work at the local Lacoste factory and her husband Pascal, 67, a former mason, have been living here for the past 50 years. Pointing to another villager in the bistro, Martine Rolland, 56, she said: 'Martine has been living here off and on for 30 years and we had never met her until the bistro opened.' During this week's parliamentary debate, Leftist and Green MPs warned handing out more licences to sell spirits risked fuelling alcoholism in a country where drink causes 49,000 deaths each year and Dry January is struggling to gain traction. 'There's a shortage of doctors in the French countryside, 62 per cent of small towns and villages no longer have any shops, one post office closes every week. But you want us to drink to forget your record?' said Hadrien Clouet, MP for France Unbowed party, LFI. But Charles-Édouard Barbier, president of the Bistro du Pays Federation, said the idea the new law would encourage alcoholism was a 'non-argument' because 90 per cent of alcohol was now bought in supermarkets, not bistros and bars. Besides, consumption has fallen sharply. The average French person aged 15 and over consumed 26 litres of alcohol a year in the 1960s. This was more than double the 11.35 litres consumed on average in 2023. Mrs Fischer said: 'It's important to have a proper bar. If you're only a restaurant with wines, it's not the same. But people don't drink a lot here. They know if they do overdo it, I'll stop serving them.' While many have praised the law, some mayors said the recipe for success was not a mere licence and other villages have not been so lucky with theirs. Viéville, just down the road, saw its bistro-grocery shut down in 2022 after several managers threw in the towel and the town hall could no longer foot the rising debts to keep it afloat. 'Naturally, a village bistro is great and we liked going to ours,' said mayor Audrey Duhoux. 'But habits have changed since Covid and many people prefer to stay at home now or invite friends. To keep one going is a labour of love. But lots of managers realised they wanted a more comfortable life. I don't think the era of a bistro per village will ever come back.' Back in Vouécourt, the mayor couldn't agree more. 'To make it work requires bravery and commitment.' 'When we didn't have one, we didn't realise just how important it was. Now that we do, we couldn't live without it.'
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
French bistros are dying out – but new legislation could save them
Laughter erupted inside the Inattendues bistro as the church bells struck the aperitif hour of six and a cork popped off a bottle of local Chardonnay in the rural French village of Vouécourt. It was a picture postcard scene of La France Profonde in the village on the Marne river just a few miles from champagne vineyards, and from Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, the final resting place of wartime hero Charles de Gaulle. The great General would surely be turning in his grave to learn the number of France's bistros, seen as a key component of the country's social fabric, has plummeted tenfold since the Second World War and now hovers at the worryingly low mark of just 30,000. So dark is the hour that this week France's notoriously fractious parliament for once worked together to approve a bill to bring back bistros, along with cafes and bars, in remote countryside areas. The man behind the new law, Guillaume Kasbarian, until recently President Emmanuel Macron's minister in charge of the civil service, told MPs: 'Two thirds of French towns today no longer have any shops. Even more have neither a bistro nor a café. 'This is a way of revitalising rural areas, since cafés and bars are often the only places in these villages where people can meet up. Reopening them means bringing French villages back to life.' Under French law, a type-4 alcohol licence allows consumption of alcoholic beverages, including those containing more than 18 per cent alcohol such as spirits. Rules drawn up by the collaborationist wartime Vichy regime in 1941 barred any new permits from being created, so aspiring bistro or bar managers have had to wait until another establishment closes permanently to acquire their licence from them. However, the new legislation will allow those in rural towns and villages with less than 3,500 inhabitants that do not already have a type-4 bar to request a new permit instead of waiting for an old one to become free. The local mayor can then sell it for a modest sum rather than the €10-20,000 existing licences can go for. Vouécourt, population 208, was among a number of test villages that were allowed to create new type-4 licences before the law comes into effect. Its mayor jumped on the chance to bag a bar licence, restoring a village building to turn it into a bistro decades after the last previous one closed down. 'Our village had no type- 4 licence since 2003, when it lost it, so we benefited from a free one,' said Hugues Fischer, 42, a cereal and sheep farmer. 'For a village like ours, it's brilliant. This law can change things for small villages with few financial means like ours and if they can avoid putting 10-15,000 euros into a licence bought from a nearby town that's great. Besides, such licences are not that easy to find.' A first attempt to get the bistro going in 2022 foundered after the managers failed to fit in, but for the past year it has been run by two dynamic local women who named it Inattendues, French for 'the unexpected' in the female form. One of them, Cindy Fischer, 41, said: 'Business is doing far better than we expected. We are able to pay three salaries in a village of 200 people.' By contrast, Le Soleil Levant (The Rising Sun) in nearby Soncourt has been shut for years with just the tattered sign in place and no sign of a replacement. Mrs Fischer, a social worker by training, said she felt compelled to take over Vouécourt's bistro for the good of the local population. 'I used to conduct home visits in small villages. You quickly realise that people feel isolated in places where bars and bistros have shut for years and they don't have anywhere to socialise,' she said. 'Now people come from this village and ones around, they are of all ages and social categories.' Among the drinkers, most of them in their 60s, were John and Victoria Bailey, who fell in love with Vouécourt after stopping off at the village by chance on their way home from Dijon to England 30 years ago. They soon returned after Mr Bailey, who worked for West Midlands Police, retired early and never left. 'The only theft in 30 years has been a bicycle off the campsite and they found the culprit straight away,' said Mr Bailey, sipping a kir. 'I still remember our 11-year-old son blowing grass reeds with other French boys by the river,' said his wife, a retired nursery nurse. 'It was just nice to see youngsters playing with old-fashioned values. That's something we still have here.' But while village life was in some ways idyllic, the Baileys said, village life has become a far more sociable affair since the bistro opened. 'It has brought so much to the village, particularly to the elderly people because they can become so isolated. This is our meeting place,' said Mrs Bailey. 'I think bistros should even integrate with social services because that's what it basically is,' said her husband. Other patrons agreed. 'There was another bistro by the Marne, another opposite the town hall and one by the local train station. They all shut and for 20 years we had nothing. It was pretty dead,' recalled Michel Jolly, 64, a retired farmer and factory worker. 'This bistro has brought life back.' Claudine Roussel, 67, whose parents and grandparents lived in the village, said: 'When I was a kid, we would go to mass and then go to the big bistro by the Marne for a lemonade. The men would drink their wine and play cards. There were meals but it was very simple fare. Then they got old and couldn't find anyone to take it over.' 'This is far better.' As talk turned to the opening of the fishing season, the weekly menu offered simple dishes from jambon à la moutarde to omelette à la paysanne with ingredients entirely from local farms in this deeply agricultural area. Customers waxed lyrical about the chef's calf's head and tongue, classic bistro fare. Food was a key factor. 'We want people to feel at home,' said Mrs Fischer. 'We offer simple grandmother's dishes and conviviality comes first. If people finish their plates, we don't whisk them away, we take it slow. 'We remain open until 7pm and people can play cards or knit and take their time.' Beyond its cafe-bar and restaurant, Inattendues sells eggs, bread and local papers, as well as local produce, such as lentils, tisane and oil, along with nearby wines such as Muid Montsaugeonnais. The bistro also organises other activities, such as concerts and knitting evenings. Yolande Mestre, 64, a retired couturier who used to work at the local Lacoste factory, and her husband Pascal, 67, a former mason, have been living here for the past 50 years. Pointing to another villager in the bistro, Martine Rolland, 56, Mrs Mestre said: 'Martine has been living here off and on for 30 years and we had never met her until the bistro opened.' During this week's parliamentary debate, Leftist and Green MPs warned handing out more licences to sell spirits risked fuelling alcoholism in a country where drink causes 49,000 deaths each year and Dry January is struggling to gain traction. 'There's a shortage of doctors in the French countryside, 62 per cent of small towns and villages no longer have any shops, one post office closes every week. But you want us to drink to forget your record?' said Hadrien Clouet, an MP for the France Unbowed party. But Charles-Édouard Barbier, president of the Bistro du Pays Federation, said the idea the new law would encourage alcoholism was a 'non-argument' because 90 per cent of alcohol was now bought in supermarkets, not bistros and bars. Besides, consumption has fallen sharply. The average French person aged 15 and over consumed 26 litres of alcohol a year in the 1960s. This was more than double the 11.35 litres consumed on average in 2023. Mrs Fischer said: 'It's important to have a proper bar. If you're only a restaurant with wines, it's not the same. But people don't drink a lot here. They know if they overdo it, I'll stop serving them.' While many have praised the law, some mayors said the recipe for success was not a mere licence and other villages have not been so lucky with theirs. Viéville, just down the road, saw its bistro-grocery shut down in 2022 after several managers threw in the towel and the town hall could no longer foot the rising debts to keep it afloat. 'Naturally, a village bistro is great and we liked going to ours,' said Audrey Duhoux, the mayor. 'But habits have changed since Covid and many people prefer to stay at home now or invite friends. To keep one going is a labour of love. But lots of managers realised they wanted a more comfortable life. I don't think the era of a bistro per village will ever come back.' Even so, the cause was worth fighting for, said Alain Fontaine, chairman of the French Bistros and Cafés Association and who runs a traditional bistro in Paris. He cited a poll just out showing that 25 per cent of French people living in villages went out of their home less than once a week. 'People are dying of depression and solitude. This law can help.' The indefatigable bistro ambassador dismissed the widespread 'myth' that its name comes from the Russian word for 'quick' shouted by troops at cafe owners during the occupation of Paris in 1814. 'It comes from the word 'bistrouiller' from central France that means 'eat and drink good things',' he said. Bistros were popularised by the inhabitants of Auvergne who served basic food in Paris and around France for workers, Mr Fontaine said. Initially the victims of deindustrialisation when workers moved further and further from home, bistros were later hit by the rise of television and by company canteens, not to mention social media. But the modern village bistro and cafe has a future, he insists. 'More and more young people want to leave for the provinces,' he said. 'Tomorrow's bistros and cafes in France will be multi-service. You'll have the bistro, the café, tobacco sale, lottery tickets, grocers and basic provisions as well as books and papers.' Mr Fontaine has been spearheading a drive to have France's bistros recognised as a Unesco world treasure as a 'symbol of the French art of living'. 'The art of the bistro and the café must be safeguarded. Such places of conviviality, freedom and fraternity are very rare,' he said. Back in Vouécourt, the mayor couldn't agree more. 'To make it work requires bravery and commitment,' says Mr Fischer. 'When we didn't have one, we didn't realise just how important it was. Now that we do, we couldn't live without it.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Euronews
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
New French law aims to revive village bistros in rural life boost
A new bill that would change an old licencing law has faced opposition from the left over concerns about alcohol consumption. ADVERTISEMENT In an effort to improve business and social settings in rural villages, French MP Guillaume Kasbarian is pushing for a new law that would make it easier to reopen bistros, cafés, and bars. Kasbarian, a member of President Emmanuel Macron's party, Renaissance, hopes to relax the rules surrounding the licence required to sell alcoholic beverages. His proposal passed the National Assembly on Monday with 156 lawmakers in favour and two against. It now requires approval from the Senate to become law. According to local media, the number of traditional village bistros has significantly decreased in the past 60 years in small towns across France. Many rural communities now lack any form of local business, with cafés once serving as hubs for social interaction and community life. In 1960, France had around 200,000 cafés; by 2015, the number had sunk to 36,000. According to a 2017 report by France Boissons industry body and the CREDOC consumer studies agency, the decline mainly affected rural areas. Kasbarian wants to reverse this trend by simplifying access to the type-4 alcohol licence. As things stand, new licences are not issued. Instead, café or bar owners must wait until an existing drinking spot closes and pay €7,500 to purchase the existing permit before undergoing an administrative approval process. Kasbarian's proposed reform would allow villages with less than 3,500 residents to request the permit without having to wait. Supporters argue that the change could revive struggling rural communities, making it easier for entrepreneurs to open businesses and encourage social connections in isolated areas. 'The goal is to bring life back to villages,' Kasbarian told French media. 'In many small towns, there is not a single shop, café, or bistro. Yet, these places are essential for socialising and community engagement.' The proposal has faced resistance from left-wing party La France Insoumise, which argues that it could encourage alcoholism. Kasbarian says that these concerns are misguided, pointing out that 80% of alcohol is sold in supermarkets. 'In villages without bars, people don't stop drinking," he told local media, "they simply consume alcohol at home, without any control. Closing bars and cafés does not fight alcoholism; it's a misleading argument."
Euronews
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Fancy a drink? French lawmakers adopt bill to bring back bars in rural areas
By Sarah Miansoni Proponents of the bill argue it is a way to tackle the economic and social decline of rural areas, whilst critics worry about health risks. ADVERTISEMENT If you were to imagine a village in the French countryside in the 1960s, there would probably be a bar – or bistrot in French – somewhere between the boulangerie and the post office. Today, chances are none of these three places would be there. In an attempt to tackle the economic decline of rural areas, the French National Assembly passed a bill on Monday making it easier to open bars in villages of fewer than 3,500 inhabitants that do not have any. Proponents of the bill say it is a way to revitalise these areas, in a country where two thirds of towns no longer have any local shops. The law would give bars in small towns the power to sell hard liquor through a simple declaration of the mayor, loosening existing regulations. It is currently impossible to create brand new hard liquor licences in France. A café can only serve alcoholic beverages stronger than wine and beer if another local bar agrees to let go of its own licence, and the transfer must be authorised by authorities. For Guillaume Kasbarian, the lawmaker behind the law, this legal framework is 'obsolete.' Cafés 'help to maintain and sometimes even restore a sense of community. Every French person should have access to them, wherever they live', he said in the National Assembly. 'Having a drink at a café cannot become an urban privilege.' Kasbarian, who belongs to the centre-right presidential party and was until recently France's Minister of Civil Service, also said bringing back village bars would help boost local economies and create jobs in rural areas. Lawmakers also adopted an amendment that would prevent these new licences from being sold to bars in other towns, in order to avoid speculation. The number of bars in France went from 200,000 to 35,000 over the last 50 years, a figure that could also be linked to a decreasing alcohol consumption in the country. The bill was passed almost unanimously despite concerns from the left and several associations over health risks. Alcohol causes 49,000 deaths each in France, according to the Health Ministry. Ahead of the vote on Monday, the French Society of Public Health had criticised 'the idea that the development of community ties, in rural areas as elsewhere, should be based on the opening bars with alcoholic drinks licences, rather than on providing social, educative or cultural services and activities.' The bill still has to go through the Senate to come into effect.
Euronews
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
French MP proposes to revive village cafés and bars by easing alcohol permit rules
A new bill that would change an old licencing law has faced opposition from the left over concerns about alcohol consumption. ADVERTISEMENT In an effort to improve business and social settings in rural villages, French MP Guillaume Kasbarian is pushing for a new law that would make it easier to reopen bistros, cafés, and bars. Kasbarian, a member of President Emmanuel Macron's party, Renaissance, hopes to relax the rules surrounding the licence required to sell alcoholic beverages. His proposal passed the National Assembly on Monday with 156 lawmakers in favour and two against. It now requires approval from the Senate to become law. According to local media, the number of traditional village bistros has significantly decreased in the past 60 years in small towns across France. Many rural communities now lack any form of local business, with cafés once serving as hubs for social interaction and community life. In 1960, France had around 200,000 cafés; by 2015, the number had sunk to 36,000. According to a 2017 report by France Boissons industry body and the CREDOC consumer studies agency, the decline mainly affected rural areas. Kasbarian wants to reverse this trend by simplifying access to the type-4 alcohol licence. As things stand, new licences are not issued; instead, café or bar owners must wait until an existing drinking spot closes and pay €7,500 to purchase the existing permit before undergoing an administrative approval process. Kasbarian's proposed reform would allow villages with less than 3,500 residents to request the permit without having to wait. Supporters argue that the change could revive struggling rural communities, making it easier for entrepreneurs to open businesses and encourage social connections in isolated areas. 'The goal is to bring life back to villages,' Kasbarian told French media. 'In many small towns, there is not a single shop, café, or bistro. Yet, these places are essential for socialising and community engagement.' The proposal has faced resistance from left-wing party La France Insoumise, which argues that it could encourage alcoholism. Kasbarian says that these concerns are misguided, pointing out that 80% of alcohol is sold in supermarkets. 'In villages without bars, people don't stop drinking," he told local media, "they simply consume alcohol at home, without any control. Closing bars and cafés does not fight alcoholism; it's a misleading argument."
