00:00Every day for 40 years, she has sat down at this famous cafe in the centre of Nice.
00:05Simone et Ben is what you call a regular.
00:09It's very good. I often come to drink a little coffee, I chat with all the waiters.
00:18In the 1900s, there were 500,000 bistros in France, today less than 40,000 remain.
00:25This cafe is 130 years old, set up in a former butcher's shop on the route taken by the first passengers of the Paris-Lyon-Marseille railway line.
00:36Patrick Francois took over the cafe from his father in the 1980s. He has kept a few remnants from the past.
00:43This coffee maker is turn of the century. It was one of the first. It's not very practical, but aesthetic.
00:48Having grown up surrounded by the aroma of coffee, he recognises the unique atmosphere in these cafes.
00:56The people, the noise, the atmosphere. It's best when it's busy.
01:02An hour's drive away, the villagers of Bouillon meet up at the local bistro to wish each other a happy New Year.
01:08We come here, we sit down, we chit-chat. It's perfect. It's just what we need.
01:14It's a meeting place where people stop by to buy tobacco or sit down and read a newspaper over a cup of coffee.
01:23Marion Fabre has run this spot for four years with both a service counter and a busy kitchen.
01:30We see people before they go to work, we see them when they come back home, we see children growing up, so all this is really great.
01:36While these cafes battle a winter revenue slump, recognition by UNESCO could provide a much-needed economic lifeline.
01:45People come to see this rustic side, so if indeed were listed by UNESCO, yes, it could certainly attract even more people.
01:52Three years after the baguette made the list, France is hoping its bistros and cafes will be next in line for the UNESCO crown.
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