While many athletes are busy training for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, there is another race that is affectionately dear to Parisians—that of the annual Waiter’s Race—and it is also making a comeback in 2024.
The Waiter’s Race (La course de garçons de café) was first held in 1914 and involves carrying a tray holding a croissant, a coffee and a glass of water, over a 2km distance (1.24 miles) as fast as possible, without running, and without spilling a drop.
The route is through the cobbled streets of the Marais district, known for its lively bars, sumptuous 17th century mansions, plus numerous antique dealers and design shops. Le Marais is also home to the oldest covered market in Paris dating from 1615, Le marché des Enfants Rouges (named after the red dresses that the girls used to wear in the nearby orphanage that closed in 1772).
It was once the Jewish quarter—La rue des Rosiers is a street still famed for its kosher food and delicious falafel eateries—and since the 1980s Le Marais has been loved for its vibrant LGBTQ-friendly nightlife. Most of all, it’s home to many beloved bar and cafe terraces, perfect to watch with a coffee in hand as the waiters race by.
It hasn’t happened since 2011 because race organisers couldn’t find a sponsor, but then the City Hall stepped in to help, and Paris’ water authority Eau de Paris is offering the €100,000 necessary to sponsor the race (providing trays, aprons, and the necessary drinks and croissant for the participants to carry). It will now be called the Courses des Cafés (Cafe Race) and organisers are expecting about 200 entrants who will all be dressed in the traditional black bottoms and white shirts that Paris waiting staff wear.
Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, a Paris deputy mayor responsible for business said that the race was started to highlight the French style of service and the Parisian way of life. Similar races take place in other French cities, notably Nantes, Grenoble and Dijon.
Aside from the shops, restaurants and bars, Le Marais is also home to lots of Parisian landmarks. Head to Le square du Temple, headquarters of the Knights Templar in the 13th century and later, a prison in the French Revolution—Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were held captive in its tower before their execution.
Renowned French writer Victor Hugo’s house is nearby (author of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables) and there’s also the Musée national Paris-Picasso that holds over 5,000 works (paintings, sculptures, drawings) and 200,000 archive items by the 20th-century artist.
La bibliothèque Forney/Hôtel de Sens was finished in 1507 for the archbishop of Sens and offers a glimpse into medieval life with the special turrets and mullioned windows of the Renaissance period. At the edge of the Marais, you can visit Place de la Bastille, once home to the prison at the time of the French Revolution and now home to the Opera House. Then walk the very cool Canal Saint-Martin as it leads back to the Seine.
For anyone looking to watch the race, it will start and end at Paris’ City Hall on the edge of the river Seine on 24 March 2024.