Por Sébastien Cousseau, taking over the “Chez Aldo” brand on Petit Nice beach in La Teste-de-Buch was a dream. That of a family “spot”. A former executive at the Gujan-Mestras casino, he undertook a professional retraining to take over the concession located near the car park, a few meters from the sand, last season.
The restaurant “Chez Aldo” is located, with that of “Petit Nice”, on the beach of Petit Nice, in La Teste-de-Buch.
Sabine MARCH
However…
Por Sébastien Cousseau, taking over the “Chez Aldo” brand on Petit Nice beach in La Teste-de-Buch was a dream. That of a family “spot”. A former executive at the Gujan-Mestras casino, he undertook a professional retraining to take over the concession located near the car park, a few meters from the sand, last season.
The restaurant “Chez Aldo” is located, with that of “Petit Nice”, on the beach of Petit Nice, in La Teste-de-Buch.
Sabine MARCH
Only here, on July 12, the start, on track 214, of the fire which ravaged 7,000 hectares of massif put a violent brake on his enthusiasm. If his restaurant, like that of his neighbour, “Le Petit Nice”, was spared by the flames, he nevertheless said goodbye to his very first season.
While the beaches of La Lagune and La Salie remained closed to the public, that of Petit Nice was able to reopen at the start of the Christmas holidays, giving hope to the restaurateur. Until a new prefectural decree was taken on February 24 to close access to the beach. In question, this time, erosion and its collateral dangers. Storms have created cliffs and at high tide there is no beach left. The risk being that walkers are trapped and/or carried away by the currents. Today Sébastien Cousseau bears witness to his “distress”.
Since February 24, access to Petit Nice beach has been prohibited due to the risk of erosion and landslide.
Sabine MARCH
The exodus to Biscarrosse
“My activity is completely subject to the opening of the beaches. My staff arrives in early April and I don’t know when the coastal closure order will be lifted. We are already in a critical situation and the closure of the beaches for the Easter holidays could have catastrophic consequences on our activity”, he testifies.
“The insurance has still not compensated us for last summer’s operating loss and I have paid my staff until September. I pass over the losses of goods linked to the power cuts this summer…”
Sébastien Cousseau employs 16 people during the months of July and August. Before the fire, “Chez Aldo” was full during the two summer months, serving between 300 and 400 covers per day. “If the beach does not reopen, we will only have crumbs here. Vacationers will all go to Biscarrosse. Biscarrosse where, by the way, the beach is replenished…”
Like his counterparts, Sébastien Cousseau is also faced with the increase in the price of raw materials and the difficulty of recruiting. A problem that it overcomes by housing its seasonal workers. “I bought a mobile home and put them up at the Viviers campsite (in Biscarrosse). I also increased their salaries. Efforts which, if the beach remains closed, will in no way pay off.
“Inconceivable to miss the season”
For Patrick Davet, the mayor of La Teste-de-Buch, it is “unthinkable to miss the season”. As the city councilor has repeatedly said, he wants the beaches to reopen for the Easter holidays. Which begin on April 8. “We’re working on it,” he says. And if necessary, I will make an effort and bring in companies to kick in the shovel. »
What the mayor is talking about is the re-fattening of the beach and its securing under the aegis of the National Forestry Office (ONF). The envelope relating to emergency work on the beaches, amounting to more than 1,100,000 euros.
“I asked the Region and the Department. The prefecture follows us. Really, I have very good hopes, ”continues the mayor who, symbolically, wanted the launch of the tourist season in his town to be scheduled for April 6, at Petit Nice. Precisely “Chez Aldo”. A meeting is also planned in the sub-prefecture to discuss the future “beach plan”.
A displacement project?
Sébastien Cousseau also evokes another fear: that of a planned relocation of his restaurant and that of his neighbour. “This is what the National Forestry Office provides”, he understands. “We would be asked to work in a removable structure which is not suitable for traditional catering… But why would we be affected when brands such as the Bikini, installed on the coastline, or even the destroyed campsites which are being built on the same site are not also called upon to back down? For now, this information is not substantiated. What is on the other hand under study, as confirmed by the municipality, is access to the beaches located further south, at the level of the Observatory site in order, also, to offer a place dedicated to surf schools.
