Paris celebrates the city’s waiters and waitresses
PARIS — Usain Bolt’s sprint world records were never in danger. Then again, even the world’s fastest-ever human probably wouldn’t have been so quick while balancing a tray with a croissant, a coffee cup, and a glass of water through the streets of Paris, and without spilling it everywhere.
France’s capital resurrected a 110-year-old race for its waiters and waitresses Sunday. The dash through central Paris celebrated the dexterous and, yes, by their own admittance, sometimes famously moody men and women without whom France wouldn’t be France.
Why? Because they make France’s cafés and restaurants tick. Without them, where would the French gather to put the world to rights over drinks and food? Where would they quarrel and fall in (and out of ) love? And where else could they simply sit and let their minds wander?
So drum roll, please, for Pauline Van Wymeersch and Samy Lamrous — Paris’ newly crowned fastest waitress and waiter and, as such, ambassadors for an essential French profession.
And one which has a big job ahead: Taking the food orders and quenching the thirsts of millions of visitors who will flock to the Paris Olympics this July.
The resurrection of the waitering race after a 13-year hiatus is part of Paris’ efforts to bask in the Olympic spotlight and put its best foot forward for its first Summer Games in 100 years.
The capital’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said restaurants are “really the soul of Paris.”
“The bistrot is where we go to meet people, where we go for our little coffee, our little drink, where we also go to argue, to love and embrace each other,” she said.
“The café and the bistrot are life.”