SAccording to a survey published by Ipsos-Sopra Steria in October 2023, 73% of French people believe that “It was better before”. The aging of the population does not explain everything. This statement is also shared by 70% of those under 35. Mélanie Racine is 37, and the tea room she opened in early July in Le Mans, called At Paulette’s, is in line with this trend. A unique place, moreover, is this ground floor of a detached house – his own – decorated from floor to ceiling in the style of the 1950s.
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The grand nostalgic chic is here: enjoying an Earl Grey in a floral-patterned cup, amidst an arrangement of porcelain, lace and trinkets. Here a Comtoise clock serves as a shelf, there a Mado buffet has been repainted pink. Rosettes adorn the ceiling, moldings adorn the walls. Birds flutter on the wallpaper while others frolic in the hollow of earthenware plates converted into clocks. The owner and chief decorator is not to be outdone. Dressed in a state-of-the-art Vichy apron, Mélanie Racine never leaves her bathroom without attaching flowers (natural or artificial) to her hair, which has been dyed red since she was 15. “I like vintage, everything that is flowery and colorful”confides the one that her clients naturally call Paulette, and whose only references are her piercings.
Paulette is actually Paule, a great-aunt who acted as a grandmother after the latter’s death when Mélanie was 6 years old. The relative had been a seamstress in the fine lingerie sector in Paris, before living a peaceful retirement in the countryside, between gardening, stories by the fire and the art of poultices. When she died in 2022, her great-niece appropriated her first name to baptize her newly created micro-enterprise, La Mallette de Paulette, specializing in creative arts and sewing.
Social worker
Making lavender bags, washable paper towels and winter warmers has occupied part of her time ever since. The other part consists of transforming porcelain dolls into lamps, sugar bowls into sewing boxes and flower pots into pitchers, according to the principle ofupcycling – create something new from something old without deconstructing the raw material. To do this, regular visits to flea markets and garage sales are highly recommended.
The idea of a “home” tea room, which would also be a shop, came to fruition two years ago after major work was carried out on her little house in the city centre. The desire to diversify professionally had emerged at the same time. Because Mélanie Racine has a “real” » job: social worker in a reception center for people in great need. The two activities are not as far apart as it seems. “I feel that people who come to my house feel peaceful, probably because time seems to stand still there, slips the self-employed woman with the look of a pin-up. I find here the spirit of my great-aunt who took care of others by offering them cakes. I also have this at heart. Taking care – “care” as we say in English – is my job.
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