He is ready to take on the challenge in his own name despite the real difficulties he has to face to restore the beach and its ancillary services to their usual functioning and give them a look compatible with a clientele used to frequenting “the beach to be”.
“Right after this kind of events, I thought: I quit everything! It will be too difficult to restore all this. But after that moment of reflection, I immediately thought of my employees (editor’s note: about a dozen people plus seasonal workers). Some of them, by the way, took a lot of personal risks to try to save the equipment.
“And then, Opéra Plage is my life and my family’s life. How could I leave on a defeat?” confides this boss, a big talker but with a heart of gold, as he looks at his daughter Véronique, shovel in hand, helping the workers to sweep away the mud and sand to free the premises.
Nice Premium: Michel, what can you tell us about the effectiveness of the relief efforts?
Michel Maiffret: Given the circumstances, nothing but good things! They were very quick, whether it was the city hall of Nice, the General Council, the Red Cross and I would not want to forget the coordination of the Prefecture. This also reassured us because, in these moments, we need morally not to feel alone.
I would also like to highlight the solidarity of many people, friends, and relatives who made themselves available to help us. There were some very touching gestures that I will never forget.
NP: A lot of damage, so a significant economic loss?
M.M.: It’s still a bit early to put a figure on all this, but an initial estimate would be around 400 to 500 thousand euros. All this without counting the loss of revenue during the restructuring and renovation period: We already had a quite busy schedule in terms of events and had many reservations.
NP: Insurance, public assistance… what are you expecting?
MM: For insurance, we will have to wait for the assessments. As for public assistance, we have met the authorities and noted a lot of attention on their part. For now, the priority is to get the establishment back to operational status, which is not easy because suppliers are overwhelmed with demands.
Some colleagues, those who were the least affected (editor’s note: generally speaking, Opéra-Plage, Castel, Beau-Rivage, and Bambou are the beaches that were most damaged), have already reopened, even if sometimes only partially. This warms our hearts and we are eager to join them because a beach without tables or deckchairs is a beach without life! I hope to set up a small eatery within two weeks and have set myself the goal of being operational again in a month!
NP: Is this your worst experience after such a long period of activity? You are an “institution” of the beaches of Nice…
MM: You can imagine that all this is very trying. Furthermore, in my office, I also had memories, a lot of things that were precious to me. Objects, photos, documents from my activity that reminded me of people who are no longer here and who were dear to me. All that is lost!
But I would like to make a confession: at these times, I thought of the poor people affected by the tsunami in Thailand who lost loved ones and I said to myself: how could they continue when they had lost everything? At least, I could go home, take a nice hot bath, and find my family!
NP: You are hit but not sunk… It’s your rugby fiber!
MM: You’ve said it. I love rugby and as you can imagine, I love the rough game of forwards from the past! So, I’m not going to give up. You know, we beach operators, we have a pretty unique relationship with the sea, it’s kind of our livelihood. No sea, no beach, and therefore no beach operators!
In these difficult days, sometimes, I look at it, this sea, I wonder how it could do this to us and I hate it.
Then, I look at it again and I say to myself: how could I do without it? You know, I’ve spent my life here and I’ve seen how Véronique and Nicolas, my children, have reacted these days… and I am proud. Do I have the right to think about retirement?
