Cafes have long fostered a sense of community in France. In September, the French minister of culture, Rachida Dati, recognised this, too, and inscribed bistros and cafes into the country’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which works to protect and promote French social practices and artisanal know-how.
The petition submitted by Fontaine, owner of Le Mesturet bistro, emphasised that “bistros and cafes are distinguished by a personalised quality of service by creating a unique atmosphere. They are characterised by the rich interaction between bistro owners, waiters and customers within this cultural space.”
In modern sociological parlance, cafes and bistros are Paris’ “third place” — a location of social interaction outside work and home, where lonely seniors go to chat with the bartender, or where students and others can escape from small apartments.
Over time, the concern is that the cafe’s role as the heart of Parisian society will become obsolete, Fontaine said, as the younger generation turns to the coffee shop.
“There’s no depth to the coffee shop, there’s no history, there’s no patina,” he said.
