• The Café de Paris, one of the oldest bistros in Lille, is closing its doors.

  • The place will be transformed into Café Joyeux, a chain of coffee shops that employ people with disabilities.

  • The opening of this concept, unprecedented in Lille, should take place by the end of 2021.

"What happens at the bistro stays at the bistro". It is a golden rule that must however be broken today. Because since it was installed in this listed building, at the corner of rue Pierre-Mauroy and rue St-Nicolas, in Lille, the Café de Paris has seen fragments of life pass, even entire lives. And if the memories will remain, the establishment will indeed close its doors in a few days to make way, at the end of 2021, for a “Happy Café”. Tears will not fail to flow on Saturday at the same time as the last beers served by the boss, Mathieu Bacqueville.

In the memory of a journalist from Lille who was almost fifty years old, the Café de Paris has always existed at 34 rue Pierre-Mauroy, formerly rue de Paris.

Of course, this is not entirely true.

Still, it's been a long time since we can drink shots and eat good family cuisine in a decor that has hardly changed for three decades.

In the 1990s, the place was run by "fat Bruno" and his labrador Galopin.

Gabriel succeeded him then, in 2007, Christian and Mathieu Bacqueville, father and son, straight from Cambrai.

Daily specials and a mug for ten euros

In its day, the bistro was a real haunt for journalists, mainly our colleagues from the

Voix du Nord

, neighbors of the establishment. We smoked there, we played belote and tarot there until hours which, today, would make the municipal police shudder. And despite the bosses' waltz, the place remained a regular cafe, far from the sanitized atmosphere of franchises, now ubiquitous in Lille. At the Café de Paris, customers were called by their first names, by the name of their favorite drink or by characteristic nicknames.

The last owners of the place, Christian and his son Mathieu, were keen to feed their customers well. At noon, for around 10 euros, you could afford a hearty local specialty as a dish of the day and a mug. And when he was inspired, Christian, a trained butcher, could develop off-menu dishes, “suggestions” that those who have had the chance to taste them still remember.

In Lille, traditional and family brasseries like the Café de Paris can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

A hand that will soon be missing a finger when this bistro is closed.

It was not the coronavirus crisis that got the better of the establishment, but rather a form of weariness after 14 years of toil that left little room for privacy.

So, if father and son are relieved to have sold the business, both nevertheless regret seeing the Café de Paris die out with them.

In fact, in a few months, after heavy work, a whole different concept will settle between the ancient walls: the Joyful Café, a chain of coffee shops that employs people with disabilities.

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