In Marseille, restaurateurs between joy and anxiety
At Palais Bar, next to the Marseille courthouse, it’s reunion time. “O, there he is!”, launches the boss, Jean Ravinetti, surgical mask on the face, at the entrance of each client whom he greets by his first name. He removed the little word stuck on the metal curtain since March: “See you later friends !”
The first customers, at 6:30 am, were the ones who usually open: two courthouse attendants. Followed the lawyers for a coffee and croissant before going to plead. Conversations at the counter resume with the municipal authorities as their favorite subject.
Regulars observe with curiosity the two high tables that Jean Ravinetti installed on the sidewalk of rue Grignan, but who will not be able to compensate for the decrease in tables staggered inside to respect the sanitary protocol. In this little bistro in the center of Marseille where Jean Ravinetti has worked for forty years, first with his mother, Suzanne, then alone, “It’s not a pleasure to see customers again, it’s a real joy”.
This atmosphere does not conceal the concerns. With the decrease in tables and therefore meals served at noon, “even while working, I will not go out my day”, says Jean Ravinetti who has already invested 300 euros in sanitary equipment and for “get carried away”. “To open is one thing; to work is still the unknown.” The customers are enjoying the reopening.
“This is France, if you open shops, banks and work, but not bars, says Jean-Charles, a regular, you might as well stay at home. Social networks are not worth the exchanges we have here. “ The blackboard behind the bar announces the menu at noon: “Provencal tomato chicken legs”. And Jean Ravinetti adds: “Tomorrow it will be parmesan eggplant.”
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