The rainy weather of the past few weeks has had an impact on the number of cafes and restaurants in Eure-et-Loir.
“It is above all the occupation of the terrace which is less. It is usually in the evening that we have more people outside. We have had fewer customers on the terrace in recent weeks, but we are lucky to have a large room inside”, relativizes Denis Prince, manager of the restaurant Le Petit Prince, rue des Changes, near the cathedral of Chartres.
After a contrasting July weather, towards an autumnal month of August?
For others, the finding is more pronounced. One of the managers of La Chocolaterie, in the city center, says:
“We are like everyone else. There is a clear drop in attendance. There are fewer tourists and no one on the streets. It’s not a season like the others, but it will start again with sunnier days. “
Although the terraces were occasionally less busy, some tourists continued to take advantage of the dining rooms to find shelter. Massimo and Giulia Pozzi, two Italian cyclists crossed in Chartres, confide:
“When it rains, we go inside. It gives us a break to rest and eat.”
At the Café Bleu, the managers were able to compensate for the loss of customers on the terrace, on rainy days, by opening a new room, which can accommodate around thirty people. The managers of the restaurant, located at the foot of the cathedral, were able to carry out an extension by buying the premises of the former Lumière et Art shop, which adjoined their establishment.
“We were able to open this new room just before the bad weather. This allowed us to limit the inconveniences of bad weather”, confides one of the managers of the Café Bleu.
premium Weather: July has not been so rainy in Eure-et-Loir since 2001
Rudy Carnis, president of the Umih (Union of trades and industries of the hotel industry) of Eure-et-Loir, recognizes that “the last fifteen days of July were not glorious”. Establishments equipped with a terrace were the most penalized:
“Restaurants lost 30% of turnover, on some particularly rainy days. However, the season had started rather well in June.”
Rudy Carnis (President of the Union of Trades and Hospitality Industries of Eure-et-Loir)
The local clientele has not fled the restaurants, according to him. “People go on vacation for less time and keep a little money to have fun when they are here,” says Rudy Carnis.
Thomas Desprez and Helene Bonnet
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