The topics of this blog are Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Duke of Richelieu, and the IDEAL CITY built on his command next to his magnificent CHÂTEAU on the borders of Touraine, Anjou and Poitou, in France.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Brasserie 'Le Richelieu' and the PMU

across the square
This brasserie is at present the main bar and café that looks onto the Market Square. It occupies one of the four nineteenth century pavilions that form the corners of the earlier 17th century market hall. Such pavilions were part of the original design but they were replaced and enlarged in the first decades of the 1800s. The bar  looks to the west and so gets the afternoon sun and attracts a lounging clientele on its external tables.  Inside the bar has a terminal of the PMU betting system and is (I think?) the only bookie in the town intra-muros.

The new proprietors, who took charge quite recently, have referbished the interior and are putting a bit of beef into getting the establishment established, while other immediately local commercial competition such as it is seems to be in a low state.

A facebok page tells of the events organised here, which include bar-room karaoke every so often.

the refurbished interior



the new chairs



lighting and decor

front to the square on a sunny afternoon

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2 comments:

Leon Sims said...

WE shall look forward to seeing it on our next visit to France. With each visit to Richelieu there is always something different. Our first visit in 2008, it looked a little sad.

Abbé Henri Proust said...

I'll be entering some descriptive text shortly. The brasserie is under new management and has pulled up its socks recently. Redecorated interior and freshened. Nice to sit in the afternoon sun looking out over the square. And busy on market days. Many have reported on the town's sad ambience, the philosopher John Locke, and la Fontaine too..... On the death of the cardinal duc in 1642 it lost its star. Been looking for another ever since. But it pleases the Romantic sensibility to this day.

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