a prince of the Cherbourg night has gone

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He will have left his mark on Cherbourg (Manche) unique fingerprintsketched the life of Becquet Tahiti and of Chausey au Stade de France.

Tourlaville resident Yves Gouhier, father of the Cherbourg casino and its legendary Fifty's Diner, died on Thursday November 21, 2024 at the age of 78.

Tourlavillais above all

Yves Gouhier was born one day in July 1946 in Tourlavillea city to which he remained faithful all his life.

“He was proud to be from Tourlaville, it was a bit sacred for him,” testifies his long-time friend Pascal Mesnil. “Deeply from Tourlaville and he claimed it!” », confirms Marcel Clairet, former CEO of La Presse de la Manche.

Years at sea

From a working classYves Gouhier first joined the Navy and sailed until South Pacific. “He had very moving memories of Tahiti, he really loved it and he talked about it all his life,” describes François Bletel, who would later succeed him at the Cherbourg casino.

After these beautiful years of sailing around the worldYves Gouhier finds his home port and launches into entrepreneurship.

A bar in Tourlaville, then a restaurant on the quays in Cherbourg, and finally the casino, then surviving, which he took over with his partner Camille Costard in early 1980s. A personal affair that he will experience as a new adventure.

The renaissance of the casino

For nearly three decades, the two men revived the casino and added Fifty's Diner.

“He knew how to take the casino to another level,” observed Marcel Clairet. Games, discotheque, bar, restaurant, entertainment, opening on the quays…

It’s huge what he did. He started from scratch and took risks. Fifty's was very successful at the time. He knew how to create an atmosphere, he knew how to attract customers. I remember, for example, that he brought in the Parisian cabaret Aux Trois Mailletz, from Saint-Germain-des-Prés, several times. But only for evenings by invitation. And karaoke on Friday evening! He brought in a lot of artists, more or less known, but always high-end. He created something that did not exist in Cherbourg.

François Bletel worked with Yves Gouhier for several years until retirement of the latter in 2001.

“He loved being surrounded by his friends. He was an endearing and instinctive character. In business, he had a sixth sense. He managed in a bit of an old-fashioned way, like a family man. With him, things were going well and where things were going wrong! »

Marcel Clairet also remembers this “very complete character” who knew how to “bring a totally new and sympathetic genre” to the Cherbourg nightlife.

“Planet Football”

But Yves Gouhier was not just the man at the Cherbourg casino. Passionate about round and oval balloons, he followed the international competitions with interest, sometimes attended, had one foot and its entries in the French football.

Among his close friends: the Cherbourg resident Gérard Énault, interim director then general of the French Football Federation from the early 1990s to 2005, and to whom we also owe the 1998 World Cup in France.

Yves was crazy about football. He participated in many things related to the French team.

And from the point of view of Marcel Clairet, Yves Gouhier has, “through his relationships, created a football planet in Cotentin. Between him, Roger Lemerre, Michel Bibard… the world became small again.”

When he retired in April 2001, Yves Gouhier did not yet know what he was going to do with his free time. For sure enjoy your familyhis wife Françoise, their children and grandchildren.

“His thing,” adds Pascal Mesnil, “was fishingin the area or in Chausey with her grandchildren. He had a full life. A good life, he admitted it himself. I think he was proud of it, but who wouldn't be? He made the most of it. »

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