La Rotonde: Why do people keep setting this Paris bistro on fire?
Paris bistro La Rotonde was partially set ablaze on Thursday amid clashes at the end of pension protests - but it's not the first time that the restaurant has been the target of attacks.
On Thursday there were clashes at the end of another day of pension protests in Paris, including scuffles with police and a car set ablaze.
Also targeted was the Paris restaurant La Rotonde in Montparnasse, which had its canopy set on fire. The blaze was quickly extinguished, but the restaurant was surrounded by a cordon of police while black-clad youths hurled rocks, projectiles and paint.
🔴 ALERTE - La #Rotonde brûle après un jet de fumigène. Tensions à #Paris. #6avril #manif6avril #greve6avril pic.twitter.com/NciNVXcjS2
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) April 6, 2023
And it's not the first time that La Rotonde has been the target of attacks - it was trashed and burned by 'yellow vest' protesters in 2019 and forced to close for four months for refurbishment.
In 2019/20 - when pension reform protests once again gripped the country - the restaurant was the target of a second arson attack, this time in the early hours in January 2020.
So what is it about this restaurant that makes it such a magnet for trouble?
It's really to do with its most famous customer - one Emmanuel Macron.
Often described as 'Macron's favourite restaurant', La Rotonde is where the president held his victory party after his 2017 election win. It was apparently chosen because he and Brigitte had been regular customers there over the years.
The thing is, the restaurant may now regret hosting that party, because since then it has become associated with Macron and has been regarded as a target by the violent fringe of protesters who hate the president and all he stands for. They say it is a symbol of the 'president of the rich' and the wealthy elite who care nothing for the struggles of ordinary people.
It's questionable whether the 'elite' includes the servers who work there, who on Thursday were inside the restaurant when it was attacked and tried to put out the blaze before fire crews arrived.
The manager told BFM TV that the whole team are "traumatised, shocked and stunned", saying: "Psychologically, everyone is shocked, I don't know what they want, how can there be so much hatred?"
So is it really the 'restaurant of the elite'?
It's not cheap, but you can certainly find more expensive places to eat in the city.
A main course will set you back between €24 and €50, while starters run from €7.50 to €25.
Wine starts at €25 a bottle and runs up to €150, with a couple of extra special bottles available if you're feeling flush, including a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru at €600.
So should I go there?
It's a nice place offering very classic, traditional French cooking - all of the bistro favourites are on its menu, from onion soup, snails or eggs mayonnaise starters through the blanquette de veau and steak tartare to the desserts of crème brûlée and rum baba.
If you're looking for experimental cookery or Michelin-style flair you won't find it here, but it does an excellent job of the French classics, in a traditional bistro ambience.
It's far from the only restaurant in Paris to offer this, of course, but it does have an interesting history - sitting on the same site since 1903 it became a hangout for the artists and intellectuals of Montparnasse during the first half of the twentieth century.
It has welcomed customers including Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Jean Cocteau, Leon Trotsky, Ira Gershwin and F Scott Fitzgerald (and Macron, of course, although they don't mention him on their website).
It's situated at 105 Boulevard du Montparnasse in the 6th arrondissement and at busy times it's wise to book. Find its website here.
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On Thursday there were clashes at the end of another day of pension protests in Paris, including scuffles with police and a car set ablaze.
Also targeted was the Paris restaurant La Rotonde in Montparnasse, which had its canopy set on fire. The blaze was quickly extinguished, but the restaurant was surrounded by a cordon of police while black-clad youths hurled rocks, projectiles and paint.
🔴 ALERTE - La #Rotonde brûle après un jet de fumigène. Tensions à #Paris. #6avril #manif6avril #greve6avril pic.twitter.com/NciNVXcjS2
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) April 6, 2023
And it's not the first time that La Rotonde has been the target of attacks - it was trashed and burned by 'yellow vest' protesters in 2019 and forced to close for four months for refurbishment.
In 2019/20 - when pension reform protests once again gripped the country - the restaurant was the target of a second arson attack, this time in the early hours in January 2020.
So what is it about this restaurant that makes it such a magnet for trouble?
It's really to do with its most famous customer - one Emmanuel Macron.
Often described as 'Macron's favourite restaurant', La Rotonde is where the president held his victory party after his 2017 election win. It was apparently chosen because he and Brigitte had been regular customers there over the years.
The thing is, the restaurant may now regret hosting that party, because since then it has become associated with Macron and has been regarded as a target by the violent fringe of protesters who hate the president and all he stands for. They say it is a symbol of the 'president of the rich' and the wealthy elite who care nothing for the struggles of ordinary people.
It's questionable whether the 'elite' includes the servers who work there, who on Thursday were inside the restaurant when it was attacked and tried to put out the blaze before fire crews arrived.
The manager told BFM TV that the whole team are "traumatised, shocked and stunned", saying: "Psychologically, everyone is shocked, I don't know what they want, how can there be so much hatred?"
So is it really the 'restaurant of the elite'?
It's not cheap, but you can certainly find more expensive places to eat in the city.
A main course will set you back between €24 and €50, while starters run from €7.50 to €25.
Wine starts at €25 a bottle and runs up to €150, with a couple of extra special bottles available if you're feeling flush, including a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru at €600.
So should I go there?
It's a nice place offering very classic, traditional French cooking - all of the bistro favourites are on its menu, from onion soup, snails or eggs mayonnaise starters through the blanquette de veau and steak tartare to the desserts of crème brûlée and rum baba.
If you're looking for experimental cookery or Michelin-style flair you won't find it here, but it does an excellent job of the French classics, in a traditional bistro ambience.
It's far from the only restaurant in Paris to offer this, of course, but it does have an interesting history - sitting on the same site since 1903 it became a hangout for the artists and intellectuals of Montparnasse during the first half of the twentieth century.
It has welcomed customers including Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Jean Cocteau, Leon Trotsky, Ira Gershwin and F Scott Fitzgerald (and Macron, of course, although they don't mention him on their website).
It's situated at 105 Boulevard du Montparnasse in the 6th arrondissement and at busy times it's wise to book. Find its website here.
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