Slates of a new type have appeared at the entrance to restaurants. Next to those displaying the daily specials – here foot packets, there seared prawns – others announce the control at the entrance of sanitary passes, the use of which has been extended to the entrance of restaurants and cafes this year. Monday. Admittedly, there were a few vacant tables. Those too exposed to the scorching sun which reigns supreme in the sky of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the winding alleys and on the plots shaded by plane trees, tourists, locals, restaurateurs and cafetiers easily comply with this new law.
“More free with the pass”
Among the visitors, there are those for whom “it doesn’t change anything”, like David and Margot, who came from the Médoc, in Gironde, and those who feel “freer with the pass”, formula Maryline, coming from Rennes with friends. Some are taken aback, like this couple of Dutch tourists, visibly annoyed and busy with the papers necessary to carry out a PCR test in a pharmacy. There are also those who organize themselves a bit at the last minute, such as Etienne and Elise, young twenty-somethings from Paris, who are awaiting the results of their PCRs carried out in a pharmacy on Cours Mirabeau. “I have both doses, but my pass is not yet activated,” he explains calmly. “We’re going to have a little restaurant and then a movie”.
“I don’t do it out of heart, but I play the game”
Restaurateurs and bistrotiers welcome this new system with calm and a touch of questions. “For the moment things are going well, people understand”, testifies Sigfried waiter in an establishment located close to the court of appeal. But with nearly 180 seats, he wonders “how will it be during the shot”. At the appointed time, around 1 p.m., small lines form at the entrances to the restaurants. “It creates expectations,” sighs Charlotte, who runs a small bistro in a typical square, with a fountain, exposed stones and hackberry. “I don’t do it with a gaiety of heart, but I play along”. QR codes are checked with the “Tous anti-covid Verif” application. These scenes are repeated, suggesting a kind of new ritual in French catering: customers and servers approach with smartphone in hand.
“It’s quite absurd this story of freedom”
Not enough to scare Angely, Adrian and their two friends. She is from California and he is from the south of the UK. In fact, they were able to watch the anti-pass demonstration last Saturday, which brought together 2,500 people in Aix. An opposition that they struggle to understand. “It is quite absurd this story of freedom”, they judge. “Because it is a selfish freedom”. An opinion shared by Bernard, Christiane and Laurence, Aixois seated at Cours Mirabeau. “Everything happens very simply. And in six months, it will be normal and no one will talk about the past, ”he prophesies. A little further, a waiter also goes about his prognosis: “I don’t give them a week before they make a new decision”. Sanitary pass or not, the coffee talks do not seem to end.
Because for the moment difficult to measure the effect on the frequentation of restaurants. “August is always our best month,” says Didier. In recent days, there was a very good crowd. Is it because people threw themselves into restaurants before they could no longer go there, or is it simply because of the tourist traffic? He asks himself. “We will find out in the coming days,” he concludes.