In 1914, Paris, France held its first waiters’ race, a tradition that continued until 2010. After a 13-year hiatus, the Course Des Cafés event returned. In preparation for Paris’ first Summer Games in 100 years, a few hundred waiters and waitresses loaded trays with a regulation pastry, a small empty coffee cup, and a full glass of water.
On March 24th, the assembled raced as fast as they could for a 2-kilometer (1 ¼ miles) loop starting and finishing at City Hall. Of course, with the objective of not spilling their precariously placed cargo everywhere.
The Winning Waiter & Waitress
Samy Lamrous and Pauline Van Wymeersch won the titles of fastest waiter and waitress. Lamrous works at La Contrescarpe, and won the men’s race with a time of 13:30. Van Wymeersch works at the Le Petit Pont café and restaurant, and took the women’s category with a time of 14:12.
Van Wymeersch started waitressing at 16, and cannot imagine any other profession. “I love it as much as I hate it. It’s in my skin. I cannot leave it,” she said. “It’s hard. It’s exhausting. It’s demanding. It’s 12 hours per day. It’s no weekends. It’s no Christmases. Iit’s part of my DNA. I grew up in a way with a tray in my hand. I have been shaped, in life and in the job, by the bosses who trained me and the customers, all of the people, I have met.”
Lamrous and Van Wymeersch received medals, two tickets each for July 26th’s Olympic opening ceremony, and a night out at a Paris hotel.
The Tradition
“Cafés and restaurants are “really the soul of Paris,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo said. “The bistro is where we go to meet people, where we go for our little coffee, our little drink, where we also go to argue, to love and embrace each other. The café and the bistro are life.”
The event may seem like a zany goof on traditional foot races, but it’s deeply rooted within the city’s culture. France is known for its food, especially its small cafes and restaurants, which are fueled by their staff. Waiters and waitresses are the lifeblood of these establishments which effectively makes them the backbone of the city itself.
