In Nièvre, more than six out of ten inhabitants live in rural areas, where the closure of a bakery or a café causes the village to lose its meeting places.
“For us here, if you don't have social connections, it's a disaster,” summarizes a resident, who adds that “in the big city, you don't talk to your neighbor.”.
The former manager of a restaurant, met on site, cannot find a buyer.
Today in France, 62% of municipalities only have one business, compared to barely 25% at the start of the 1980s.