English Pub near Revel (31)

[TWINKLE]

I have a French friend who is seriously planning to open a real English pub in the Revel area.  He's under the impression that the British people living nearby and in the Aude area will come in flocks.  I disagree and feel that the Brits who live in this region are here because they prefer all that is French. 

Do you agree with me?  Would you be interested in an English pub with all the trimmings - real ales, darts, quizz nights, snooker, British bartender etc.?   I'm afraid he's going to invest a lot of his money and time for nothing.

I think that he would have much more success if he did it for the French community who like the British culture and social life.

 

[Pierre ZFP]

Personally I'm with you Twinks.  I avoid such places, maybe there is a market but I can't see it.  What would be next? a giant screen showing Premiership football?  No thanks.

[cooperlola]

I agree on the whole, Twinks.  However, a decent pint of proper draft beer is the one thing I miss about my native country![B]

[londoneye]

If a British style pub opened near me, I suppose in honesty I would probably visit it, on a very rare occasion, just for novelty value.   However, I would probably only continue to frequent it if I found it was frequented by a mix of French / English / any other nationality except purely English people.   It goes without saying that I have nothing against English people, otherwise I wouldn't be reading this site.

I have a French neighbour who keeps trying to get us to set up an English pub (not that we have the slightest intention of, or interest in so doing!), because he insists it would be a really big hit with the French !!  So Twinks I believe you are right in saying there may be a market for French but not so much for English customers in that area !

[TWINKLE]

Thank you for your views.  So far however nobody from the region has posted - prompting me further to believe that this project is a no-no as far as the Brits are concerned.

[suein56]

There is an Irish pub near us; genuine draft Guinness is sold as the landlord is an aficionado of the brand; he studied the looking after and the pouring of the drink with Guinness in Ireland. The landlord is French as are most of the customers. I know one lady who goes there sometimes, she is Irish and a translator, married to a Frenchman - who visits the pub occasionally.

I have been a couple of times (OH likes Guinness )and it is usually very quiet - nearly always French locals who are there...

Sue

[Just Katie]

I agree with Londoneye.  Twinks you sing in a number of Irish bars and these are very successful with a young French clientele.  At the moment there is not much in Ravel for this corner of the market.  I think it is a good idea although I would not bank on a hugh influx of English customers.

However, I think Irish bars are now done to death.  Personally, I prefer the traditional London type bar with green victorian tiles on the exterior, leaded glass and on the internal, a large bar in the centre of the room with coralls separated with stained leaded glass partitions.  That would indeed be something new.

By the way, who is the friend?  Please tell me it is not my husband.

[TWINKLE]

It's not an Irish pub it's an English Traditional pub that he wants to open. 

It's not your husband - you don't know the person[:)]  I'm still not hearing from people who actually live in the Revel, Castelnaudary, Montagne Noir area who may be interested. 

[Just Katie]

I never said it was an Irish Pub, I just said Irish Pubs have been done to death thats all.  God, why dont people ever read my posts properly

[Gemini_man]

I don't live in the area but I think it would do a bomb - in the holiday periods, both for English and for French but for the rest of the year: forget it - just imagine: an English pub in France during the Winter - I don't think so, I can't see resident Brits using it very much to be honest!

[Jonzjob]

Sorry that it's taken me a while to add to the thread, but I have only just seen it.

As you know Twinks I don't live a million miles away, but even if was in my village I probably would go and see for the curiosity value, but I didn't come here to have a part of England in a warmer (sometimes?) climate... When we went to the Irish bar in Carcassonne for your gig last year the worst part of it was drinking the Irish 'beer'? The gig was great!!![:D]  I have never been a fan of ginis or whatever it's called and the type of french beer on tap was a very poor excuse for a drink.

I am a great fan of English beer, but somehow it doesn't fit here. I have been back on a flying visit to Blighty just reciently and really enjoyed the pints I had there, but now I am back on my Jenlain. We used to take English beer on our camping holidays here and took most of it back because it wasn't right... That happened for a lot of years too.

For me it's English beer in England and French beer here. Besides which who is going to teach the 'landlord' how to look after it properly and to convince him that it doesn't have to be frozen to death because it actually tastes good in it's own right at room tempreture (54 deg F)!!!

Sorry, but it would probably not get my vote...

[TWINKLE]

Hi Jonz!

Good to hear from you[:)] 

I totally agree with you about the British beers not tasting right in France.  It's the same for me when I go to my lovely Cadaqués in Spain, I love the tapas and the Spanish beer there but whenever I've bought it back here to France and tried to re-play the late apéros in the garden it's just not the same.

However, my mate assures me that he will be bringing in a team from Britain to 'create' the real English pub atmosphere and will employ an authentic British barman who will serve the beers and ales at the correct temperature.  The problem for me is that if there is not enough British custom the French punters are not going to like 'warm' beer.

I'm going to have a serious chat to him about this venture.

[Ron Avery]

.............and will employ an authentic British barman who will serve the beers and ales at the correct temperature

Errrrrrr  and where in France is he getting these genuine English beers from Twinks?  There is a French bar owned by an Englishman near here and he does Guinness on draught but it costs an arm and a leg to get it here and the cost per pint reflects that.  Be interesting to find out how real English beers will be transported to Dept 31.

I went to Majorca many years ago and they had a Red Lion pub, near Alciudia, all waiter service so nobody got near the bar, they supposedly did Watneys Red Barrel and Double Diamond, but I went up the bar to get an ash tray and from the angle I was standing I could see only one barrel of beer and two pipes going to the separate taps for the Watneys and Double Diamond, which it was if it was either, was never revealed [:D]

[Jonzjob]

[quote user="Ron Avery"].............and will employ an authentic British barman who will serve the beers and ales at the correct temperature

Errrrrrr  and where in France is he getting these genuine English beers from Twinks?  There is a French bar owned by an Englishman near here and he does Guinness on draught but it costs an arm and a leg to get it here and the cost per pint reflects that.  Be interesting to find out how real English beers will be transported to Dept 31.

I went to Majorca many years ago and they had a Red Lion pub, near Alciudia, all waiter service so nobody got near the bar, they supposedly did Watneys Red Barrel and Double Diamond, but I went up the bar to get an ash tray and from the angle I was standing I could see only one barrel of beer and two pipes going to the separate taps for the Watneys and Double Diamond, which it was if it was either, was never revealed [:D][/quote]

Ron as a matter of interest, what was the difference in Red Barrel and DD. They both came from the urinal! But yes, I agree that there will be a LARGE overhead in getting the beer here and if it is live beer and not dead pasturised c r a p then it will have to get here rapidly! Live beer, good English bitter, does not like long journies and if it is not treated properly it will not be good. And as has been said how do you convince a people that have been taught that beer has to be COLD!  and 'warm' beer is no good. For crying out loud English beer is not warm, it is the right temprature for good beer! [B][B][I]

[Tim]

Good grief, quelle horreur. We come to France to get away from the ghastly pub syndrome. I'm Irish but would sooner mow the lawn with a scissors than hang out in either Irish or English pubs, especially those featuring giant screens, juke boxes or other such bloody rackets. A la rigueur, maybe a quiz from time to time provided bien sur it was in French, since everybody so badly needs to learn French, perhaps the odd jeu de scrabble de temps en temps - mais un vrai pub anglais, ah non, jamais merci!

BTW I am on somebody else's computer and he insists I put a disclaimer, these are not his views (I bet they are but he won't admit!)

[Tresco]

I quite like pubs.

I came to France to escape people talking Franglais when they talked about France.[:-))]

 

[LEO]

[quote user="Timco"]

Good grief, quelle horreur. We come to France to get away from the ghastly pub syndrome. I'm Irish 

[/quote]

I was not aware that Ireland has ghastly pubs.

Leo

[TWINKLE]

Roy!

Don't know about the logistics of the beer transportation but my friend has a lot of money to invest so....... I'll ask him about it. 

Timco!

I don't think my friend considers the new modern British pubs as a Traditional English pub.  Have you ever been to the Fens in Cambridgshire?  If not,  then the only entertainment in these kind of pubs are the odd dart tournament and quizz night once a week.  Cribbage is played and there is a snooker table in the ones big enough to host one.  Horse irons on the walls, log fire.......that's the sort of pub he wants to create.

He may do live music once a month but there won't be any giant screens I don't think.

[TWINKLE]

Oh and a beer garden[:)]

[Ian]

Only just discovered this thread.

I live 7km from Revel, in my late 30s (so not quite Albert Tatlock, puffing on navy-shag in the snug time of life just yet) and YES I would visit an English pub.

I didn't move here 3 years ago to escape or run away from anything - I love the UK (and US, Germany, Ireland, switz, Netherlands etc) and a GOOD English pub would be fantastic. A rubbish one would be....well...rubbish!

I know plenty of twenty, thirty and forty something Brits and French who would give it a try...whether any of us went back would depend on what it was like.

If this is your friends passion they should go for it - I like a bit of enterprising adventure.

I am available for beer tastings.  Best wishes,

Ian

[Jonzjob]

I agree with you Ian. We didn't come here to escape owt either. I wish the enterprise good luck, but I really don't think English beer goes well with being here. It should be 'taken' warm in comparison to the French beer (58 deg F). It has a GOOD taste and does not need to be chilled to death like a lager type beer. But with all that the French beer tastes right here and the English beer is faantastic in England. Don't ask me to explain, I can't?

[Ian]

The French are in my humble opinion the world leaders when it comes to wine.

But their beer, well, it's like British wine...sometimes palatable at best. 

That said, Jonzjob, you have a point: hot sunny afternoon, here in the South of France, (assuming a shortage of Ricard) I'd go for a Kronenburg before a Theakstons Old Peculiar....but of course Kronenburg is owned by the Scottish now!

[heidi h]

I would SO visit an english pub. I have to say that pubs are one of the things I miss most living over here ( along with indian takeaways and cinemas showing V.O). Why does everyone get so het up about all things english. No-one bats an eye lid if say an italian cafe were to open but tag english onto anything and everyone is up in arms! We should be proud of our pubs as there is nothing else like them . They sure beat the grubby french cafe/bars around here for atmosphere/drinks/food/music. Twinkle I think your friend should go for it.

[Ian]

Now you are talking Heidi...

Does anyone have a friend with a burning desire to open an Indian restaurant near Revel?  (and I mean and English-style Indian restaurant...not like those hopeless ones on the Cote d'azur!). 

I even reckon French beer would go well with a curry.

Ian

[Riggy]

Hi Twinkle,

I'm new here (hello everybody if this reply gets read).....we have been just north of Tarbes for nearly a year now and if we could find the sort of place you are talking about we would frequent it regularly. A friendly place with a lively atmosphere perhaps? live music a couple of times a month? Ditch the TV and jukebox and perhaps the frequenters could make their own music with traditional singing/instruments in between band appearances? I think the place would have a unique appeal especially if  the local people could be encouraged to join in.....-we have fabulous French neighbours with great enthusiasm for traditional music, from Basque, all British folk, Irish etc and I know if it was on their doorstep they would attend regularly and participate.

Riggy.

p.s. Does anybody know of any trad folk/Irish/sea-shanty orientated establishments or gigs in my area please....desperate to get singing again.