“I’ve been coming here since my childhood”: a PMU bar in the Somme among the “100 who make France”

It catches your eye once you pass through the door of Rétro. THE yellow countertop vibrant, in formica, like the tables and chairs arranged around the television set which broadcasts the horse races. “It’s archaic, that’s for sure, but they remind me of my youth”confides Franck. “I’ve always known them here. And I’ve been coming here for fifty years.”

Le Rétro, at l’Etoile, has remained a bit in its original state. The impression that certain tables and chairs have not moved for decades. Franck was born here, at l’Etoile. He comes to the café almost every day to meet a group of friends, regulars, “play cards twice a week with [ses] colleagues.” As a child and teenager, he did the post-match here, with his teammates. The football stadium, right next door, “didn’t have really up-to-date changing rooms at the time. So we came to change here. We had a chocolate.”

“It’s simple, no fuss”

The patina of time, and the retro character of the Etoile PMU bar, this is what Fooding highlights to explain why it has included the Etoile business in its guide to 100 PMU bars that make Francepublished this Thursday. “Is it a real sixties harbor? With its collection of Formica chairs, its trippy wallpaper [des bandes blanches et noires zébrées] and its lemon-flavored mosaic bar, the Retro lives up to its name terribly well“underline the authors.

Between two races and bets, all the customers chat and get to know each other. Place of social connection and meetings in a village which “only has one bistro left”notes the one we nickname here Euch’bé. “In the 70s, I knew eight of them, at l’Etoile alone.”

The village is home to just over a thousand inhabitants, but apart from Rétro, the only remaining business is a florist, at the other end of the Etoile. To make purchases, you have to take the car and go to Flixecourt, four kilometers away. “But a certain number of people here, elderly or not, do not necessarily have a license or a vehicle”noted Frédéric Caron when arriving at l’Etoile, mid-2023.

This former technician on high voltage lines, in Pas-de-Calais, was looking to start a business with his partner, Amandine, who worked in catering. “As soon as we entered here, we felt that we could do something. The retro side, the layout, the warm, friendly character. It’s simple, no fuss. It looks like us.”says the co-manager.

Extended evenings

They both developed other activities, both a source of income, but also to meet the demands of residents: place of reception and sending of parcelsenlargement of the small grocery store troubleshooting, bread storemanufacturing of duplicate keys. “They thank us for that, and for taking over the business after the departure of the former manager. And they repay us well”adds Frédéric Caron. “We are open Monday to Sunday, and we have people every day.”

From morning until evening, sometimes late. Customers play overtime. Le Rétro is theoretically open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. “More there are no cutoff times In fact. Sometimes we stay until 9 p.m., 10 p.m.slips Karl, in his twenties. “The bosses aren’t afraid to work overtime. They never kick us out. We know we don’t bother them, so we stay, we hang out.”

He feels so good at Rétro that he comes to work here, with his computer. “I am a jockey agent, and I believe that it is this friendly atmosphere of the PMU bar here, where I came very regularly when I was little, which created my vocation!”