Over the hours, small lines and crowds in the streets of Nantes… Everything had started very soft, in the morning, under a very soft sun too. 10 am, the gates of the shops in the shopping street of the rue de La Marne opened, with a metallic noise almost forgotten. Martine and Miguel, 76, were already there. “Not necessarily to buy. “ Just to feel the city life come back with its stores. “Like people who have been locked up, we feel like we are free. We want to see people. “ Three hours of freedom, more than a kilometer from their home.
“Life begins again”, Pia, 10, told her mom on her way to the shoemaker. On October 30, his canvas sneakers did the trick. More in November. Ditto for Ianis, a 2-year-old boy. In October, he wore shoes from 24 to late November, “He must be doing a 25 or 26, calculates his mom, Radia. He has a small, deformed foot. You can only put it on here. “ At three maximum in the small shop, the parents who stand up to Zig and Puces do it for ” the essential “.
“It was important to come”
Celine, 52, came to Galeries Lafayette early for her “Essential” to her : “Christmas presents are important to me! I’m not a shopper, I’m not someone who strolls around town, but I missed the shops for the holiday season. “
At that time, she is one of the 460 customers who are inside. 1,525 clients are allowed at the same time, according to the rule of one client at 8 m2. On the second floor, Clémentine, 10, and her dad are also in the middle of the Christmas ritual, in front of the toys department. “It was important to come. Let it finally smell like Christmas. “
Claire chose to prepare her Christmas at Jim’s, a 9m accessory store2 and an authorized customer, in the small rue du Château. And to support small traders: “Small shops are the soul of a city. “ Dominique, her boss, is happy to reopen but it is not “Youpi tralala”. Its products are destocked: it is reopening before imminent closing. “There were these three months of Covid after five difficult years. I pay for the demonstrations of the yellow vests, the anti-airport… ”
From line to line, the madness
Christmas was slowly preparing in the streets of Nantes when around 4 p.m., we saw the crowd. That of the Saturdays before Christmas, visible in the streets and countable this time. Peak of 1,400 people at Galeries Lafayette. At Hema, the queue for the 52 authorized customers has lengthened. And between Christmas decorations and chocolates, the required square meter is shattered. It’s a touch-key. It annoys a neighboring merchant in his 28 m store2. “Me, it’s four clients and space around each. “
Christmas crowd and frenzy of frustration. Loaded with Zara and Sephora bags, Margot and her girlfriend, thirty-something bank employees, do not hide it. “We want to let off steam, buy clothes, girl’s stuff. We continue to work but without pleasure. ” Spend without counting, on this Saturday when we counted the customers.
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