No bar to stupidité

Just when you expected to see that reason had prevailed in the bold, no-nonsense, red tapeless France of Nicolas Sarkozy's vision, a news report smacks you in the face with a reminder of how robust the barriers to commonsense can be.

From Aix-en-Provence comes a truly crackpot judgment that shows, though I am sure the translation doesn't work, that la justice française est une âne.

A court has found it possible, presumably while keeping a straight face, to decree that the Bar des Cascades in La Motte, a lovely village on the edge of the Gorges du Verdon, must close its doors because the distance between those doors and the entrance to the parish church is two metres shorter than required by the letter of the law.

In the words of my articles here, and in the Independent, Erick and Marion Beruti's café, which performs several useful functions in the daily life of the village, is two steps too close to God in the squinty eyes of the law.

The fine of 50 euros is neither here nor there. The order to close the bar calls to mind the bulkiest of sledgehammers being used to crack a nut.

Now we know why the appeal court in Aix took many weeks to decide a case that ought to have been thrown out in seconds. Some way had to be found to justify such an idiotically inflexible judgment that belongs to the writings of Pagnol.

In vain, I searched the reports for the rationale. In vain, I questioned Erick on his mobile phone. He was still in shock - "I feel utterly sick," he said - and simply could not give me the grounds on which the court had reached its decision.

I remain to be persuaded that sensible grounds can exist, but hold open a Salut! Forum slot for anyone in a position to know how ordinarily intelligent people are meant to understand the basis for the judgment. I am relying on early reports; maybe pearls of wisdom from the appeal court will very soon appear for all to see on the newswires and in newspaper columns.

Until then the facts, simply put, are these. A prefectoral bylaw sets the minimum distance at 40 metres from a bar to a church, school or prison. A lower court hearing that found in favour of the Berutis measured the distance in question, perhaps mischievously as if to show the stupidity of the case being brought in the first place, as 40 metres and three millimetres.

But even if we allow that the accurate measurement is indeed 38 metres, that overlooks the fact that any worshippers intent on murdering a cola, pastis or beer would almost certainly cover the route via the pavement, 82 or nearly 92 metres depending on whether they turned left or right on leaving Mass.

In sidestepping the obvious, reasonable conclusion, the appeal court has ignored the needs of La Motte's 2,400 inhabitants. The Bar des Cascades serves as café, with light snacks as well as drinks, tabac, newsagent and lottery sales point. It is, as Erick has said, "right at the heart of village life".

Never mind that the church had no objections, likewise the mairie across the same square from the bar. How could the church complain? After all, the priest calls there for his fags and paper and, on one occasion, popped in for some communion wine.

Never mind that the Berutis had already moved their business, at the council's request and to its entire satisfaction, from its original location next door to the church premises.

"I feel as if my legs have been broken," says Erick. "But I'm not going to close. As I understand it, I have the right to stay in business while I await an appeal to the high court of cassation."

Please let Salut! know if you hear any more about the reasons for this judgment. And if you think he'd listen, let Sarko know too. He has even more to put right in his country than I thought.

* Related articles:
Two steps too close to God
Are you listening, Monsieur le Président?

Comments

[ColinB]

If I were the religious kind, and thank the Lord I'm not sir, I think I'd be praying for a gesture of disapproval from on high.

How about a slight easing of the tectonic plates under the Var, creating a fissure down the centre of the village street so as to separate church and bar by the requisite distance, giving legal sanction to their continued coexistence.

If one or two lawyers were sadly to get swallowed up the process, then even the unbelievers would know there had been a miracle ...

[Philip H]

This is typical French mentality. A friend in the alps has just written to say that the co-proprietaire that "runs" the mountain lane of 34 detached chalets in which she lives has just decided - by majority vote - to incur at huge cost to each owner a new road with drains, parking bays and a crash barrier - to stop people driving off the road and into the valley below.

Before replacing the natural beauty of a mountain road with an urban freeway, any sensible person would first ask how many times has the road been flooded? none - it's on the side of a mountain; since for many owners their chalets are holiday homes only, how many times has the road been full of parked cars? - none to the reecollection of the oldest resident; and most important of all, how many cars have driven off the road and down the mountain. Answer - none.

Incidentally the resort boasts the longest pisted ski run in the world - 16Km, much of it graded black!

It could only be France!

[louise]

If the Church and the Mairie are happy with the situation, who complained in the first place? Is someone trying to personally put him out of business? Sounds like it ...

[DerekR]

I have a friend (who actually lives in Le Lavandou!) who had a swimming pool installed in his garden. When it was complete the neighbour complained to the mairie that it was to close to his own property. An official arrrived, took measurements and decreed that the neighbour was correct. I remember that it was about a metre too close. In due course of time, he received a letter from the mairie ordering him to move his pool. This all happened about 10 years ago; he ignored the order and to date there has luckily been no follow up action.

[Colin Randall]

The case was originally brought by Customs. When it was thrown out, the public prosecutor appealed. So no sinister goings on to my knowledge....

[ColinB]

Brainteaser of the day: what possible interest might the French Customs have in the siting of a bar vis-à-vis a church ?

PS Thank you Louise for leaving the message on my new blog site. Glad you were successful this time. But when I tried to reply, it then became this blogger's turn to be locked out! Will try again later.
(Forgive me, ColinR, for using your site as a post restante.)

[Colin Randall]

Hardly worth a new posting, but Var-Matin quotes the prosecution service as denying it was out to kill off the bar and saying the Berutis should have agreed to suggstions to move the door round to a wall in the alley. I know people have asked here why the entrance couldn't just have been moved but I can see why that solution didn't appeal to the Berutis.

[Colin Berry]

Antibes has a café that's poorly situated -close to the bus station but just around the corner, out of sight. The owners, with typical Gallic stoicism, called it "Le Mal Assis". Maybe the Berutis could, or should have displayed similar sang froid.

[Roads]

There's a La Motte near to Gap, as I recall.

Spent quite a few hours drinking Kronenbourg at the bar in the village
square there some years ago.

I'm not quite sure, but I do hope that your article refers to another village with the same name.

I'd hate to think of all those ancient boules players I met in 'my' La Motte having to leg it around the corner for a pastis, even possibly (heaven forbid) to a Bar des Sports.

The effort (and shock) would surely kill 'em.

[louise]

Caught an interview with the owner on the lunchtime news on A2 today ... let's hope the publicity will help them.

[Colin Randall]

Nice to see the rest of the media catching up! Who kows, even the people at that Other Place might wake up soon to a classic Provencal yarn......