One regular customer says that the cafe is the "epicenter of La Roquette."
Text and photos by Griselda Garcia
On a bright afternoon, laughter and singing echoed from a small cafe hidden behind plants on the corner of Place Paul Doumer. A young woman and an older man made their way out with trays filled with drinks to serve to a group of friends sitting in yellow chairs. The banner outside the building read “Café de la Roquette.”
“It is the epicentre of La Roquette,” said Gaspard Bijon, a regular at the cafe.
Gaspard moved to Arles from Canada and has been coming to this cafe in Place Paul Doumer for six years. He enjoys the lifestyle and climate of the area.
Before becoming a plaza renowned for its cafés, the plaza was a hub for shopping and socializing at tobacco bars, said Cafe Manager Charlotte Croizer. Now, it fills with locals and tourists, many of whom are looking for a place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or spend time with friends and family.
The cafe often collaborates with other shops and restaurants in the plaza to organize community events, and its mood shifts with the season and time of day. At La Nuit de la Roquette neighborhood festival in July, bright, colorful lights lit up the cafe’s banner. The cafe entrance was barricaded, and there was a long line of people waiting for drinks. The staff ran around pouring beer into plastic cups and picking up empty ones.
The plaza was alive with people walking and talking, scoping out galleries, and searching for the few tables that hadn’t been reserved. Electric music came from a DJ in the nearby rue de la Roquette. You could smell cigarette smoke.
By contrast, the next morning, the cafe was so quiet you could hear pigeons flapping their wings and the scrape of chairs on the cobblestones. You could smell coffee.
Apart from serving food and coffee, the cafe hosts community events. Every first Friday of the month, it hosts an open mic night, followed by a DJ performance that lasts until midnight. La Roquette has more extended hours than most cafes in Arles. It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday through Sunday. The cafe holds a fourth license that allows it to serve alcohol late into the evening.
“I think it’s a mix of people, and it makes this place special,” said Croizer. “But also, all the team is really kind, and we are like a family.”
Monica Ronco served as interpreter for this story
