At the central market halls of Béziers, Raymond Garcia, the owner of the Le Marina bar, bows out

Raymond Garcia worked for 35 years behind the counter of the Le Marina bar, in the central halls of Béziers. Diane Petitmangin

Unfortunately, Le Marina will not return after the renovation of the halls. Diane Petitmangin

The Marina, a modest café, still has a pretty terrace. Diane Petitmangin

David and Louis, two faithful to the estaminet, surround Raymond Garcia, the owner. Diane Petitmangin

This “counter psychologist” held the bar of Le Marina, in the central halls of Béziers, for 35 years. Alas, he will not return after the renovation of the premises because Biltoki, having his own café, informed him of his dismissal. Nostalgia sequence.

Le Marina, in the central market halls of Béziers, is the story of a fashionable bar of yesteryear. Without necessarily any cachet or desired design. A modest counter, a little hidden and discreet but faithful to the position for 35 years, like its boss, Raymond Garcia. An estaminet without frills, perhaps, but not without panache!

We come there to have a little black in the early hours of the day before starting work, to crack the seed on one of the tables on the terrace before getting down to business. a new day, to take a break by drinking a beer or a white wine, chatting with the regulars, or reading the day's gossip in silence.

"It’a whole neighborhood life is going away"

We come here for all these reasons and many more. "A bar that closes is a whole neighborhood life that goes away", strikes the “beautiful” Éric, one of the faithful, with Louis, Charlotte, David and company. A ball of contacts and informal links, established through a discussion or a service rendered. Between local workers, people passing through or tourists.

The facilitator of this famous social bond, often brandished in speeches but rarely concrete, is Raymond, 64 years old, who took over from his father René behind the zinc.

The art of politeness always pays off. Diane Petitmangin

L’listening ear, this "psychologist or counter picologist", as he is nicknamed, has collected many fragments of life, more or less battered, of confidences, of rants or bouts of laughter, drinking and disappointments. But, like a pillar in a confessional, he won't say a word about it.

Customer diversity

He prefers to remember that he “spent wonderful years” and rubbed shoulders with both the municipal employee or the local craftsman as well as the magistrate or lawyer. I have had all social classes behind my bar. This is what we call diversity, no ?", he says with a smile, emphasizing "the conviviality" and even "the familiarity of the place".

Where, in two strokes of a spoon, we retell the history of the markets and that of the century. When some deplore "the arrival of the highway and the flight of VRPs who no longer need to stop" or there’ irruption of supermarkets open on Sundays, which killed small businesses in the city center.

"You’never been very tired either"

Where the owner of the place is teased without embarrassment when he says he has almost never taken a vacation: "At the same time, t&rsquo ;have never been very tired either…" Or when the order is late: "You shouldn't have started roller skating to serve faster ?& quot;

Yes, but now, Raymond Garcia will not return after the renovation of the halls. Biltoki, the future manager, has his own café and has been notified of his dismissal. With a heavy heart, but without bitterness or regret, the boss will bow out on Saturday, February 3, with a recital by the singer Nolinka, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Last tour at friendly price

"It would be nice if the last tours were at a friendly price, that is to say we pay double for it can leave with a small jackpot,” says Charlotte. Chick ?

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