French waiters to race through Paris streets as historic contest returns

Tourists in the narrow streets of Paris's historic centre this weekend may find themselves dodging swarms of servers with trays of coffee and croissants, as a long-defunct waitering contest is revived.

Published: 5 February 2024 17:13 CET
Updated: 24 February 2024 14:28 CET

French waiters to race through Paris streets as historic contest returns

Waiters will race through the streets of Paris next month as an old French tradition is revived. Photo by FRED DUFOUR / AFP

First born in 1914, the “Course des garçons de café” (cafe waiters’ race) is being held on Saturday, March 24th.

“It’s the rebirth of a legendary race,” said Dan Lert, one of Paris’s deputy mayors and chief of the French capital’s water authority Eau de Paris, which is stumping up €100,000 in sponsorship to revive the race, which had not been run since 2011.

The competing servers – male or female – will wear a white shirt, dark trousers and an apron “which will be provided” by organisers, Lert said.

Running will be banned as they each bear a tray with a croissant, a coffee and a glass of water over a two-kilometre route through the tight medieval streets of the Marais district – all, hopefully, without spilling a drop.

The 200 contestants will start and finish the race at Hotel de Ville by the Seine river.

The waiters’ race was originally started to “highlight this French style of service, these establishments that are envied the world over, this Parisian way of life,” said Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, another deputy mayor responsible for business.

“We want the Olympic Games to give a positive boost to the profession” of restaurants and waitering, he added.

The post-2011 hiatus for the waiters’ race came as no-one could be found to sponsor it until city hall stepped in, said Pascal Mousset of hotel and restaurant body GHR.

There are, however, similar waiters’ races in several other French cities including Nantes, Grenoble and Dijon.

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Once a preferred spot for gala premieres, the UGC Normandie was one of several grand cinemas on the Champs-Elysées that made the area a hub for film buffs in the 1960s and 70s.

But the street long ago lost its cool among Parisians, becoming increasingly dominated by flagship fashion stores and tourists taking snaps of the Arc de Triomphe.

The UGC cinema chain said it faced a “very sharp increase in rent” at the location, which is owned by the Qatari royal family.

Two other famed cinemas on the boulevard, the George V and Gaumont Marignan, have closed since 2020.

“The cinema is disappearing in somewhat terrible circumstances for the whole culture,” said a former employee, 22-year-old Yann Raffin, adding that he feels both “sadness” and “anger”.

“This avenue is transforming into an avenue reserved for the ultra-rich,” he told AFP.

The last screening on Wednesday night was “La La Land” with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, a fitting tribute to Hollywood musicals of a bygone era.

Its director, Damien Chazelle, appeared on screen with a special message for the sold-out crowd.

“This room was an extension of my own life, it was a friend and an ally,” said Mehdi Omais, 40, a film journalist, visibly moved.

“It’s heartbreaking to see it close and to see this avenue becoming a cemetery of cinemas.”

An auction of the chairs and decor was due on Thursday, including the huge letters on the outside, with proceeds going to a charity that organises screenings for hospitalised children.

Paris remains a film-going hotspot and still has more cinemas per head than anywhere in the world, with swanky new theatres opening elsewhere in the city.

They include a state-of-the-art Pathe cinema near the Opera Garnier, designed by architect Renzo Piano who created the Pompidou Centre and The Shard in London.