In Chartres, night falls, the curtains of shops come down
The streets of downtown Chartres were deserted from 6 p.m.
Traditionally, the heart of downtown Chartres is a real human anthill on Saturdays. He was less, all day. A general observation of traders. Some shoppers have avoided traveling at the end of the afternoon to avoid risking a fine of € 135. The fear of the ticket was also present among the vendors, like one of the florists of the Place du Cygne: “I started to put the flowers in my trucks at 4.30 pm, to make sure I got home. at my house at 6 p.m. “Heartbreaking for this craftsman whose turnover swells considerably between 4 and 8 pm.
At 5.15 p.m. the pedestrian streets started to be deserted. Passers-by hurried on, thinking of the curfew decreed at 6 p.m.
“I made a lot of purchases because I don’t know how I will be able to organize myself on the other days. “
Emilie Faudemer (From Rambouillet)
–
Same story with Bénédicte Lacroix, from Lucé: “I’m very annoyed, I spend my money on weekdays. This will no longer be possible because I drop my children off at school in the morning, so even if the businesses open more in the morning, I will not be able to come. In the evening, I finish at 6 p.m. And at noon, I don’t have time. “
“It’s a hard blow”
The lights in the shops went out at 5:45 p.m. A salesperson confides: “I have seen two customers since 4:30 pm. “
At 6 p.m., the employees had left their stores. Ten minutes later, a police patrol was pacing, in slow motion, the streets of downtown Chartres to dissuade those who were resistant to the curfew. Christelle Nardoloni, who runs a clothing store, was one of the last traders to leave the city center.
“It’s a big blow to all of us. We fear a leak of customers to the Internet. I have set up photos and videos on my Facebook account to offer my products. But that does not make up for our lost sales on the niche, important from 4 to 7 pm. ”
Does the effect of the holidays explain the new measures of the Government?
In Dreux: “We just have to hurry a little more”
Effect of snow, rain, cold or curfew. Or a bit of both? It’s not the big day crowd this Saturday January 16 in the streets of downtown Dreux. The city woke up, a little bit, around 5:30 p.m.
Hairdressers hurried to finish their last haircut, a chilly woman entered a clothing store to buy a big sweater, a few families were still taking advantage of the windows. There were more people at the G20 checkouts, the only mid-size food store in the city center. There were a few people in front of the bakeries and a small queue in front of the Saint-Antoine pig shop. “We adapt”, explains Caroline Wacogne, who runs this delicatessen with her husband.
“Opening two hours less a day will lead to a shortfall, but we have no choice. Usually on Saturdays we offer 30% discounts on our merchandise from 6pm to avoid wastage. With the curfew, this discount is brought forward from 4.30 pm to 6 pm ”, explains the shopkeeper.
“The customers are playing the game. They are there. “
–
Just before 6 p.m. there was not much left in the shop. One of the customers makes a good heart for bad luck. “You just have to hurry a little more. “
Avoid a third confinement
“This Saturday is almost ordinary”, one observes at the Rose des Vents bookstore which has adapted these hours (9 to 5 pm instead of 10 to 7 pm).
“We had roughly the same number of customers as usual,” note the booksellers.
“People are very careful with barrier measures. The curfew should be respected without too much difficulty. People are so afraid of a third lockdown. As at this moment they can go out, they enjoy it without stress or annoyance. We’re all getting a little fatalistic. “
The Imbermais gardens have also adapted their hours with a shorter lunch break, “to avoid too much of a flow of customers in the store at the same time. The curfew occurs in winter. It’s good. There are much less picking activities than in fine weather. An early closure in summer would be more detrimental to us. “
In Nogent-le-Rotrou and Margon, a calm day and gloomy weather
The streets of Nogente emptied after the morning market. This first day of curfew did not cause any particular excitement in the city center and in the surrounding shopping areas.
It was not the announced snow that fell in the afternoon, but the rain. A gloomy weather. Place Saint-Pol had its sad Sunday face. For Marielle, from the Yves-Rocher store, the announcement of the arrival of snow did not encourage people to go out: “The activity is very calm for a Saturday afternoon”. She will reorganize the activities of the store “to adapt to the curfew”. At the Délices de Saint-Pol, opposite the Notre-Dame church, the afternoon is also calm for Karine. “People often come to buy chocolates when they are invited to friends, it’s a gift like a bouquet of flowers. As nothing happens in the evening, of course, my activity is calmer ”.
“In fact, it doesn’t change our habits. At 6 p.m., we still came home. I hope this curfew will be effective ”.
Laure (De Luigny)
–
In the Intermarché shopping area, the car parks are not full. Julien, from La Ferté-Bernard, has finished his shopping: “Due to the curfew, we are going home earlier than usual”.
“I don’t want to take a fine”
Sarah Thibault, from the EDM appliance store in Margon, will adapt her hours: “I prefer to have a curfew at 6 pm rather than total confinement. We will recover the evening time by finishing at 12:30 p.m. and opening at 1:30 p.m. You have to put things into perspective and be positive. Anyway, we have no choice! “.
In the parking lot of the E.Leclerc hypermarket, night falls and Magali, from Thiron-Gardais, fills her car trunk with her family. 
NOGENT-LE-ROTROU. Magali from Thiron-Gardais is used to shopping after 6 p.m. She’s going to have to adapt to the curfew. She lived the first evening of the family curfew at the E. Leclerc store in Margon.
Packaging operator in a company in Authon-du-Perche, she works nights and this curfew disturbs her a bit: “I sleep during the day so I always do my shopping after 6 pm. I will have to organize myself, because we have no choice and then, I do not want to take a fine ”.
In Châteaudun: “We have to adapt to get by”
A somewhat sinister atmosphere reigned at 6 pm in the streets of downtown Châteaudun. As the rain gave way to fog, many shops were already closed and passers-by had deserted the streets.
“For once, I won’t have to chase customers to ask them to checkout! “, Joked Bernadette, employee of the Coccinelle Express supermarket, closing the door at 6 pm. “They understand that the first generalized curfew is going into effect tonight. »She cashed her last customer around 5:50 pm. “Mr. Tony ”came“ by chance ”to buy bread. “I rarely take it here, but since I was not far away, I took advantage of it. “
The store opened at 8:30 am as usual, but it did not close for noon. “We usually close at 7:30 pm but, with the implementation of the curfew, I will lose 20% of sales. It’s colossal over a week, so we have to adapt to get by. We don’t have the power of a hypermarket, but we have ideas, ”says Laurent Baboin, boss of the medium-sized store. “We will now be open non-stop from 8:30 am to 6 pm. We took back the lunch hour to compensate for the curfew. I hope that this strategy will pay off and bring dynamism to the city center. Everyone has to play the game otherwise we are not going to get away with it. “
“No more people between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.”
Bernadette and Julien, apprentice, were not too overwhelmed at the cash register. “We had a good morning and, despite the snow, our grandmothers came as usual. Between noon and 2 p.m., it was quiet, but it still moved like Christmas or New Year’s Day, they said. Normally, the store is quiet between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., but today we saw more people arriving at a little speed! “
It didn’t last long. “It became quieter again from 5.30 pm,” said Bernadette, after lowering the iron curtains and putting away the carts. “Several customers came earlier to make last-minute“ non-essential ”purchases such as bottles of alcohol, wine or aperitif cakes! But we also sold a lot of sugar. The curfew, like the confinement, will be an opportunity to have fun by baking cakes! ”
Curfew at 6 p.m. throughout France, vaccination extended to people at high risk …. What to remember from Jean Castex’s announcements
Thierry Delaunay, Pascale Rouchaud, Jocelyne Legros and Frédéric Levent
– .
