Sidewalk cafe life in France is about to take a chillier turn with an order as of March 31 to permanently turn off the heating that makes outdoor service still pleasant even when the weather isn't. The measure's purpose is to save 500,000 tonnes of CO2 from escaping into the atmosphere.
It's a sharp about-face from the past couple of years, when sidewalk and street extensions, with heating, became almost the only choice for restaurants during long months of lockdown and limited indoor eating.
The law makes the ban national; some cities, including Lyon, had already implemented restrictions of their own. The environment ministry had estimated that the emissions from the outdoor heating were equivalent to emissions from 300,000 cars.
The rule does have exceptions; heating is still allowed in closed tents, such as at circuses and in places where the terrace area is covered and connected to the outer wall of the building with an airtight joint. Outdoor heating is also permitted in waiting areas of stations, ports and airports.
Not only has France rolled back some of the sidewalk and street extensions that restaurants and cafes were permitted during pandemic lockdowns, now it has put what cafe owners feel is a serious crimp, with an order to turn off the heating
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