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Historic headquarters of the anar and anti-fascist far left, the bistro in the 20th arrondissement celebrated its last evening with fanfare on Saturday January 4, after the death this summer of its boss.
When we show up at 2 p.m., Saturday January 4, there are already people there, and not just a little. Already the atmosphere of big nights, anti-fascist songs at the top of their lungs and shots lined up on the counter. In the reduced space left by the bodies, under the clouds of red and black stickers, we walk as best we can, we jostle, we dance, we fall into each other's arms. Behind the bar, the small group of bartenders in t-shirts bearing brass knuckles are not idle and also openly raise their elbows.
This Saturday, January 4, the Holy Savior offered himself a funeral with fanfare, from noon until the dead of night. After almost twenty years of existence, the historic bar of the anar and anti-fascist far left is lowering the curtain for good. It is the third place of this kind in the neighborhood to close in a few weeks, after the Lieu-Dit bar and the Le Jargon libre bookstore. If we could have seen this as a consequence of the gentrification of the 20th arrondissement of Paris, or of repeated administrative closures, the real reason is simple and sad: it is the death this summer at the age of 55 of the founder and boss, Julie
