It's just past noon on a midweek day, and every table at Au Bon Acceuil, a cafe-bistro in the small village of Saint-Martin-sur-Ouanne in northern Burgundy, is occupied. The three-course lunch menu, offering choices like a large steak with chips or a meaty lasagne, is priced at just €18. However, villagers are coming not just for the food, but for the sense of community the bistro provides. After an eight-month closure, the bistro, formerly known as Café de la Gare, recently reopened, and locals are eager to see it remain open. Nadia Letellier, the new manager, says, “It’s so important to have a cafe-bistro in a village like this. We couldn’t let it stay closed. And we’re doing well, as you can see. People seem really happy it’s open again.” Hervé Chapuis, a farmer and the village mayor, is part of a local council team that worked to save Saint-Martin’s last public-facing business since the nearby bakery closed eight years ago. “People come here every morning to have a coffee and a chat,” he said. “Our aim is to keep this kind of business open to support the social fabric. It’s part of village life, and people missed it. Now, village life has returned to its proper rhythm.” France’s traditional cafe-bistros, once a cornerstone of daily life, are facing a decline. In 1900, there were an estimated 500,000 such establishments; by the 1960s, more than half had closed. Today, only about 30,000 to 40,000 remain, and they are reportedly shutting at a rate of two per day. Alain Fontaine, who runs Le Mesturet bistro near Paris’s stock exchange and is president of France’s Association of Bistros and Cafes, says the closures leave rural communities feeling deserted and villagers, especially the elderly, isolated. “Every day, the art of living we enjoy in our bistros is gradually disappearing from our communities,” Fontaine said. “Villages are being left like deserts with no shops, no businesses, nothing. In losing our local bistros, cafes and restaurants, we are losing part of the French life balance.” The reasons for the decline of these establishments, often called “salons de la démocratie” or “people’s parliaments” by 19th-century writer Léon Gambetta, are both economic and sociological. The population in rural areas has declined over the last half-century, and television and digital devices have shifted social habits, with people spending more time at home. The average French person now drinks about 80 liters of alcohol annually, down from 200 liters in the 1960s. Finding people willing to run bars, cafes, or bistros is also a challenge, says Fontaine, who is campaigning for the government to submit the establishments to UNESCO for recognition as intangible cultural heritage. He argues that such recognition could encourage more people to consider taking on these roles. “Without a cafe or bistro, communities are effectively deprived of any social life,” he said. “We cannot resign ourselves to this trend.” Solène Joucla, whose family has run the historic Le Grand Café in Camplong, near Montpellier, since 1898, faced the possibility of closing the café or giving up her job as a high-school English teacher when her father retired. Instead, she and her sister set up an association to run the café. “We closed for three years after the pandemic, which was a difficult period, and opened in September last year,” Joucla said. “We wanted to find someone to take it over, but it’s a small village of 220 people and it was complicated. Now we run it with volunteers. Our aim is to encourage people to go out so they are not isolated, and so we know how they are doing. People come here for a chat, to have a laugh, listen to music… we are the cultural centre of the village. My sister and I grew up in this bar and have plenty of memories here. We’re fighting to keep its place at the heart of the village, but it’s a daily challenge just to stay open. And not just for us; this is a battle that’s happening all over France.” A 2023 report to the French Senate suggested the government should ease regulations on small rural café-bistros, hotels, and restaurants, highlighting the negative impact of their closure on rural communities. The report concluded their presence contributed to “economic vitality and social cohesion.” The National Federation of Country Bistros says these places are unique as centers for socializing, building community ties, and fostering local cultural life. It adds that supporting these businesses helps keep the heart of rural France beating. A recent report by Oxford Economics, examining the economic and social contributions of bars and pubs in five markets, including the UK and US, concluded they had “a central role in bringing people together and supporting social connection.” In France, the 1,000 Cafés association, set up in 2020, has worked in over 300 communities to help save or open cafes, often by diversifying their offerings, such as selling food essentials or becoming drop-off points for online shopping. Camille Sebaux, the director of 1,000 Cafés, said, “Cafes have been closing in villages for the last 50 years, and we don’t have any magic wand or miracle answer. Plus, running a village cafe is not an easy job. Our aim is to help small communities find solutions.” Aurélien Pécot, the mayor of the 14 villages and small towns, including Saint-Martin-sur-Ouanne, that make up the Charny-Orée-de-Puisaye commune in the Yonne department, ran a bistro for seven years before being elected this year. He says he believes they are essential in rural communities. “I noticed the same people would come in every morning at the same time, take the same table, the same coffee or a glass of white wine. The cafe-bistro was their point of reference. If it disappears, there is nothing for them,” he says. His local authority owns five properties in the area, including the Saint-Martin bistro, and spent €25,000 on essential works before it reopened. Local officials also advised Letellier on setting up the business. Pécot says many recall a time when almost every village had a bar, cafe, bistro, and bakery, but he says this is no longer realistic or economically viable in many cases. “It’s taxpayers’ money we are spending saving these places, so people have to see it’s being well spent. Not every village can have its own bistro,” he says. Over an aperitif at Au Bon Acceuil, Nicole Deviterne, the mayor of a neighboring village without a cafe-bistro, said: “It’s an element of village life that’s extremely important. It’s a way of combating rural isolation, but there has to be a real willingness of local people and local councils to save these places, to make villages live again.”