Paris (AFP)
The strong coffee in the morning at the counter, the order of the dish of the day and the discussion on the news of the day before will they be in the intangible cultural heritage of France?
This is what an association wants, which has submitted a file to defend "the art of living in bistros".
The Ministry of Culture is due to decide next week.
"It is not the bistro as a place but the art of living around the counters that we want to recognize", explains to AFP Alain Fontaine, president of the association for the recognition of the art of live in the bistros and cafes of France as an intangible cultural heritage, created three years ago.
An art of living undermined by the health crisis with the closure for several months of establishments.
The association, whose project had already been retoked in 2019 - "because we had only registered + Parisian bistros +", according to Mr. Fontaine - again filed in October a file under the title "commensality (act of eating together, Editor's note) open cafes and bistros in France ", to the Ministry of Culture which must decide" next week ".
"The desire to share around a counter, a table, it is a French exception", underlines Alain Fontaine, himself owner of a bistro restaurant in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris.
"The art of living that is observed in our cafes and bistros is made up of rites, a separate language, codes of conduct: calling out to the waiter, his neighbor, ordering, waiting his turn, railing against time , life, politics ... ", explains the association on its site.
"We maintain that the tradition of cafes and bistros is a common, intangible heritage, made of freedom and sharing. The bistros and cafes of France are passers-by of time," he added.
"When a bistro disappears in a village, it is the soul of the village that disappears", "in the neighborhoods of large cities, it is a social anchor to share, a place of love, friendship", defends Alain Fontaine in a video he sent to the President of the Republic.
A support petition had collected 12,908 online signatures on Friday.
In the event of recognition of the French intangible cultural heritage, "the art of living in bistros" would join, for example, the chromatic accordion, the lead balls of the country of Morlaix, the French gastronomic meal or the lemon festival of Menton.
© 2021 AFP