The Paris Café Preservation
A new campaign has been launched to encourage UNESCO to award cultural heritage status to Paris’s bistros and café terraces referencing to the role they played in bringing people together in the aftermath of the 2015 terror attacks.
The dossier will be forwarded to the Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for submitting such applications to UNESCO, this coming September to raise awareness both in France and abroad of "the role that bistros and café terraces play in bringing people and cultures together, and their role as intellectual and artistic melting pots". The new association has stated that following the attacks on November 13, 2015,
"Parisians crowded onto the terraces... to show that they regarded them as places of cultural cross-fertilisation, of freedom and of the art of living."
The association has also said that the culture of Paris' world-famous cafés and bistros was increasingly "under threat", not only from soaring rents in the French capital, but also from multinational companies in the food & beverage industries.
The association's head, Alain Fontaine stated that “In a society that is becoming increasingly standardised, there are still places for families that make a real contribution to popular culture.” Similar campaigns have recently started to put both the French baguette (which can be read about in our previous article, Battle of the Baguette) and the iconic green "bouquinisites" book stalls in Paris on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about The Paris Café Preservation! Planning a trip to experience the treasured bistros and café terraces in person? Our culturally immersive classes taught by native instructors will ensure you are able to order whatever you heart may desire with ease! Click below for more info!