While the city’s brand new loudspeakers blast the balloons of jazz standards into all the streets, the atmosphere was rather bluesy in the shops, bars and restaurants we visited on Thursday morning. Still stunned by the announcement of the day before, the traders woke up with a nasty hangover, the kind that strikes us slyly in the summer, after an evening of drinking bad rosé. And this time the aspirin will not change anything: the pill has trouble passing.
“We expected it. People don’t respect anything. After the deconfinement, they started doing anything. I had to police all season to respect barrier gestures and wearing a mask, ”plague Bruno Clément, owner of the Moulins Bleus, cour du Mersch. This time around, he didn’t fall for the merchandise. “I had anticipated by voluntarily putting myself out of certain products. I will minimize my staff and do take out. “
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“We would have preferred a curfew”
Christophe Bilkel, owner of Le P’tit Marcel, does not take offense. “We followed to the letter everything that was imposed on us and in the end, we still have to close. But until when ? A curfew would have been much more satisfying for everyone. The restaurateur says that as soon as the president’s speech was over, the phone did not stop ringing. Customers who wanted to book, just to make a last little restaurant before a diet of 4 weeks.
His restaurant was full on Thursday evening. But not a reason to slack off. “We are not going to do anything,” insists Christophe. “There will be no relaxation of protocol. “Didier Delanaux, head of Black and White, rue de Paris, did not expect” such a severe measure. Even if health is the most important thing. He too, if he points to the lack of good citizenship in general, especially fears the repercussions. “Your working capital, you can sit on it!” The aid that has been allocated for the first confinement, if they are the same, they will not be enough this time, ”he insists.
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“A cold shower”
While he only opened his bar L’Excelsior on Place Claude-Arnoult for two weeks, David Plez is already forced to close it. “It sounds like… but that’s how it is. At the limit I can understand that we are closing the bars but the restaurants, frankly… ”, he puts into perspective, showing solidarity. Sonia, his partner, is upset. “We were starting to take our marks. Frankly, it’s hot, ”she says, moved.
Marie, the owner of the bar La Moselle, place Anne-Grommerch, is perplexed about the four weeks of closure. “In my opinion it will be more. During the first confinement, I had cried. There, we were prepared psychologically. But that won’t prevent me from sleepless nights. “
Bruno Joyeux, from the interior design boutique L’Instant, had the feeling “of a cold shower. November is our second biggest month of the year. We start the Christmas decor, the collections are already there. Close three months in the year, you have to have strong backs. The same story goes in the Mary Home store, rue de Jemmapes. “I have all of my Christmas packages arriving. Besides today, I have almost sold only Christmas gifts, ”says Marie, the owner. Who keeps his sense of humor. “If we are confined for more than four weeks, it’s very simple, I die or I go to jail. With all I owe! (laughs) I have a nice banker but still… ”
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