The tobacco bar “Le Carnot” has closed its doors for three days to the great dismay of the residents and shopkeepers of the Nice port district, who are accustomed to this old landmark on boulevard Carnot.
A black plaque with the phrase “I am Carnot” lies in front of the entrance with its shutters down, and some curious onlookers even capture the moment with their cell phones. The tobacco bar “Le Carnot” has been closed for a few days following its sale to new owners.
Not something worth an entire article, you might say? Certainly, but sometimes life is not always that simple, and Umberto, the current owner of the establishment with his wife Sabrina, has undergone emergency surgery and is hospitalized at Lacassagne Center. Their plan to move to Spain to start their new business is becoming complicated, and a proposal to cancel the sale was immediately made to the future buyers, who refused. The hospitalization and the current health state of the current shopkeeper do not allow him to fulfill the sales agreement, and the situation is at a standstill.
That was all it took for some shopkeepers and residents of the district to rally around the couple who are an integral part of the port’s life by launching a petition for their transalpine neighbors to stay: “I met Umberto in Naples years ago, and fate led me to open my pizzeria a few meters from him. I felt obliged to help him through this difficult ordeal,” commented the Italian pizzaiolo located on boulevard Stalingrad.
Nearly 200 signatures have been collected in the neighborhood. A petition that may not have much legal value but has certainly lifted the spirits of the couple of shopkeepers and, who knows, might find a happy resolution in this story of a neighborhood that doesn’t want to lose its merchants…
To be continued!
