REPORTAGE
After two and a half months of closure due to the coronavirus epidemic and confinement, it's D-day for cafes, bars and restaurants, which can reopen this Tuesday in green areas (in orange areas, only terraces and open spaces can reopen), while respecting strict measures. For the occasion, in Nantes, a restaurant, "La Prison du Bouffay", had decided to welcome its first customers at midnight. A decision appreciated by the customers, who responded present.
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"Ladies and gentlemen good evening! It is midnight, it is June 2, the doors of the restaurant are open". David, the owner of the establishment, opened his restaurant with a slightly shaky voice and a slightly hesitant verb.
"It's good, we're having the opening ball"
After having waited a few minutes behind markings on the ground distant from the famous sanitary meter required by the authorities, customers are led in groups of 3, 5 or 10 people per table, that's the maximum. And everyone is proud to be among the very first in France to be able to dine in town again. "It's good, we are doing the opening ball," says a client to Europe 1.
With a gentle summer heat despite the late hour, the opening ball was rather successful. And in less than a quarter of an hour, the terrace was full. "It was important to see Nantes a little bit back to what it was a few weeks ago," says another client. "We missed it a lot. Today is a bit of a real deconfinement."
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Wearing a mask and disposable menus
For ordering, disposable menus are distributed, while the servers are all provided with a mask. Not easy, notes Auregan, a waitress at the restaurant. "Washing your hands, we're used to it. It's really the only constraint on the mask, but we're going to get used to it," she says, before concluding: "It's still nice to resume, to see the customers. "
A total of 102 covers were served, and customers and owners are delighted. It is not until two in the morning that the chairs and tables are folded, before being brought out at noon.