Floods in Pas-de-Calais. A restaurant reopens its doors thanks to the solidarity of its customers in Estrée

A year ago, on November 6, 2023, Cédric and Marie Delaleau thought they lost everything. Their restaurant in Estrée in Pas-de-Calais, opened just nine months ago, was hit by the floods. But that was without counting on the experts and a supportive clientele. Their establishment has just reopened its doors.

A stone's throw from the sea, along the Course valley, Estrée is a small, bucolic, almost idyllic village in Pas-de-Calais. However, a year ago, on November 6, 2023, this decor became a nightmare for the restaurant owner The Suite by Marie and Ced. The river bursts its banks and the establishment finds itself under the waves. “At the moment, we are in the heat of the actionrecalls restaurateur Cédric Delaleau, we try to bail out, put sandbags, tarpaulins, scrape. Then, when we see that there is no longer a solution, we take a big blow.”

A very hard blow to take because the restaurant was brand new and had opened its doors nine months before. Everything had to be redone: “Water and mud had infiltrated through the walls, through the doors. It was not as high as from the outside, but the infiltration was such that it was necessary to replace all the plasterboards, all insulation, amounts”.

Fortunately, Cédric and Marie Delaleau, the owners, are not alone. Experts support them and list the necessary work in order to move the site forward as quickly as possible; the damage is quantified quite quickly. But as Jacky Duquesne, building expert, recognizes, “the hardest part for them was finding companies to be able to intervene immediately. The complexity was due to the fact that companies were needed everywhere.”

It was important for us to be present at the reopening, to show that we are there, to show solidarity!

The work finally took place this summer and the kitchen became operational again in October; all the ingredients are finally there to open again! Marie Delaleau, chef of the restaurant, does not hide her joy: “For me, cooking is fun. Delighting customers with my cooking also gives me pleasure.”

On the day of reopening, customers responded. “They are courageous, they did everything again and we admire them”says an emotional customer. Another emphasizes:“C’“It was important for us to be present at the reopening, to show that we are there and to show solidarity.”

Restaurateurs wanted to lend us their establishment while they were closed.

Cédric Delaleau

Owner of the restaurant “La suite by Marie and Ced”

“We had continuous relationships, through messages of support; restaurateurs wanted to lend us their establishment when they closed. There was a real surge of solidarity, this human warmth that we find here. And That's the best,” concludes Cédric Delaleau with a big smile.

Activity is now in full swing in this fifty-seat restaurant. The story picks up where it left off.