Charlotte Gallagher

Just walked to the place that does the olive oil ice cream

Stephanie Prentice.

And sticking with dining, because in France, restaurants selling traditional French food like steak and chips, coq au vin, or mussels in white wine sauce are closing at a rate of 25 a day.

One problem is, is that they've become too expensive.

Many people say they're going out less because they can't afford it.

And large numbers of bistros and brasseries are now worryingly empty.

This report from John Lawrenson in the western French town of Angers.

It's half past twelve and the Angevin, a restaurant in an industrial park on the edge of Angers, is still pretty empty.

The owner, Michael Mourot, is disappointed about lunch times like these and anxious about the future.

We should be three quarters full at this time, but we're more than three quarters empty.

Now it's about $15.

Michael says he's kept prices low, $19 for his three-course lunch menu, but he's still lost 10% of his clientele over the past year.

Statistics for France show average net profits in the restaurant sector that were 11% pre-Covid have now fallen to under 3%.

For Michael, things are a bit worse than that.

Nowadays, I feel like I'm working for nothing.

Once I've managed to pay my staff, pay my suppliers and pay all the obligatory charges, taxes and contributions, it's almost a relief if I manage to break even at the end of the year.

When you say break even, do you manage to pay yourself a salary?

Not every month, no.

It's like everything's falling apart.

It is possible that I lose everything.