202-Year-Old Paris Bakery, City's Oldest, Forced to Close
Source: Delish.com
After more than two centuries in business, Paris's oldest bakery has baked its final baguette. Au Grand Richelieu Boulangerie will close its doors following a landlord's decision to double the location's rent price. Claude Esnault, the proprietor, told Reuters, "I would like to see someone take over the bakery, but I know it will close. It will die." The rent is increasing to €18,000 to stay in line with the prices in the neighborhood.
Locals fear the entire neighborhood will soon change, leaving residents without shopkeepers who have served the area for years. Esnault likened it to a village where there are no essentials — no bakery, nor school. In place of this 202-year-old institution (history lesson: the bakery was around when Napoleon was Emperor of France) will be a bakery, but one that makes sweets, not what the French call "le pain quotidien," the daily bread.
Le Richelieu is located in the 1st arrondissement, one of the most expensive areas in Paris. Esnault has been the owner since 1969. According to Europeforvisitors.com, the tiny shop produces more than 400 baguettes, 200 croissants, 150 pain au chocolate, and dozens of other pastries per day. Unfortunately, it's time to bid the shop adeiu.
Read more: http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/oldest-bakery-in-paris-closes-after-202-years
Another problem with inequality: finite space leads to infinite rents.
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but I prefer the "pain restaurant" or "flute" size which is wider than the baguette. There are lots of types of breads in France other than what we normally see in French bakeries in the U.S. The best bread I had in France was fresh-from-the-oven "pain de campagne" or country bread you can buy in small villages that is large and is made with whole wheat or rye. The crust was amazing. When I went to high school for a year in France in the 1960s, one of my school friends invited me to a tiny village in the Ardeche region that his father was helping to restore and that dated from the early middle ages and had about 200 inhabitants. The inner streets were too narrow to admit cars and the walkways were often covered with habitations overhead (like tunnels). I bought some country bread to take home on the train but the baker wouldn't sell more than one of the giant loaves to an outsider because he didn't want to run out of bread for the regular customers. That bread with wine, a little local cheese and sausages or cured ham (or local preserves and strong coffee) makes a feast.
of we'd leave. It was a LOT of money to buy at the time but 3 years of a solid growing business, and a plan for continuation was more than enough to persuade the bank (several banks actually) to loan to us.
Its hard to believe the owner of the bakery business never bought the building. Maybe they did and its not part of the story but I would imagine that would be part of any reporting on something this controversial.
Also, the bakery BUSINESS can continue in a different location. That particular biz can move and continue on elsewhere. I suppose its the romance of it being the same biz in the same location?
...on his way to Waterloo!
I took an excursion boat out of the harbor to visit the ancient island prison the Chateau D’If, which was the place where the Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned in the novel by Dumas. The tour guide took our party to a prison cell that had a tunnel in the floor, telling us that this was the hole dug by Edmond Dantes and the Abbé Faria for escape. A few tourists chuckled but no one said a word, assuming it was part of the fun and local color (Marseille people are well known to enjoy exaggeration and tall tales).
After living in France and experiencing my own weight loss while living there, I noted two things: people walk a lot, especially downtown and they don't eat between meals.