Paris (AFP)

The president of the regional council of Ile-de-France Valérie Pécresse called on the government Thursday to "save Christmas" for bookstores by allowing them to reopen at this crucial period for their turnover.

"I ask the government to save Christmas," said the elected LR during a gathering of writers and publishers in support of booksellers in Paris.

"It means to ensure that our small businesses, our local businesses can reopen for Christmas. That the French can go and buy their books for Christmas in their local bookstore," she added.

According to the regional president, "authors and publishers, who will perhaps suffer a little less from the crisis, because we will continue to sell their books on platforms, are mobilizing for their booksellers because they like, and that they know that this relay of independent booksellers is precious ".

A cruise on the Seine offered by the Vedettes du Pont-Neuf then took the actors of the book to plead their cause.

"Everyone must write. We must say no. And know that in the conversations we have with each other, a large part of the government agrees with us," said the writer Alexandre Jardin.

"There is no government unit. There are ministers in France who consider it amazing to go to a store, to a Monoprix like that happened to me last Sunday, where people buy yoghurts and there are tarpaulins on the books. When you talk about it to the ministers of the French government and you ask them: + are you proud? + obviously they are ashamed! ", he said.

Bookstores, considered as "non-essential" businesses, have no longer been allowed since October 30 to sell pre-ordered books by mail order or on their doorstep.

According to a preliminary estimate from the Syndicat de la Librairie Française, these sales methods should provide a maximum of 20% of turnover achieved in normal times.

The president of the National Publishing Union, Vincent Montagne, estimated that this confinement was "much worse" for booksellers than that of the spring.

"It's twice as bad when you think about the fact that this is the time when we sell the most books, and when publishers invested heavily, authors too, bookstores."

"If it stays closed, it will reopen with fewer bookstores, fewer publishers, fewer authors and books," commented cartoonist Joann Sfar.

"I think that decision-makers know very well the absurdity of the decision they have taken," said the CEO of Editions Grasset, Olivier Nora.

The cruise ended with the arrival of the Paris police river brigade, who boarded the barge and checked the attestations of all passengers as they disembarked.

"Throw all your books overboard, we're going to be checked," joked writer Sylvain Tesson.

© 2020 AFP