Par Hugo Murtas
Published on
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A scent of yesteryear escapes from the back room of this neighborhood bar in Rennes. Illuminated by neon light and surrounded by photographs of Stade Rennais, Loic, 66 ansleaves aside the bowls to keep only his comb and his mechanical razor.
Every month, his former clients meet at the iguanathe emblematic bar of the street of Paristo be cut by the one we nicknamed in the Thabor district “golden scissors”.
Loicwho entered the working world at the age of 16 ans as’apprentice hairdresser, could enjoy his retirement peacefully. But the “passion” for haircuts and friends takes over. Encounter.
From the bar to the back room
The Thabor craftsman knows “Fifi”, bar owner the iguana for 24 years, and the neighborhood like his pocket.
“I did my first client’s hair in 1984. I closed my salon in 2017 after 33 years of activity,” the 66-year-old hairdresser briefly explains. “But I still continue to cut hair and above all to keep in touch with my former clients,” adds the man, smiling.
That day, the faithful of the establishment, all aged between 40 and 60 years oldpass in turn through the hands of the man with the golden scissors.
“It’s become a habit to have my hair done here”, tells us a man, La Poste jacket over his shoulders. “You are going to be beautiful for tonight my rabbit (…) I too am getting cut”, mocks Fifiwhich will come last after the group of friends and their customers.
Like the old country salons
Loïc has kept all his work tools. On the table of the professional is all his paraphernalia. An 80s-era neon orange water sprayer, faded blue comb, leather bar to sharpen his razor blade… Nothing really changed between his debut and his retirement.
I knew this time when, in the countryside, the old hairdressers in the back of bars or newsagents. It was common. I relive this atmosphere a little when I come back here.
“50-hour weeks standing”
Every day, for 33 years, the hairdresser from Rennes cycled to his salon from the street of Paris, baptized “Loïc Coiffure”. A journey of 30 kilometers round trip.
Despite his 66 ans past, his physique, sporty and lean, leaves no doubt about his state of form. “I cycle all the time, I also swim. It is necessary to move! “.
I now take more time to do my hair but it’s not work anymore, it’s pleasure. When I ran my salon, it was 50 hours a week and I was constantly on my feet.
His view on pension reform
In addition to sport, it is above all the pleasure of hairdressing that keeps Loïc in shape. And when asked about the postponement of the legal retirement age to 64, the Rennais nods, aware of what is currently at stake in Francewhile leaving a blank before answering.
I understand those who demonstrate because there are a lot of difficult jobs. I love my job but I could no longer do it every day. There is a time when the work becomes exhausting, it is normal.
The cut of the sixth customer finished, Loic allow yourself a break afterwards 3 hours of exercise. Coffee in hand and a smile on his lips, he watches all his friends remake the world, well-groomed like gangsters, The Freedmen.
By forgetting for a moment the political debates and the weighty question of a pension reform. Just share a good time.
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