A Little Garden with a Big Heart: When Gastronomy and Solidarity Meet for Christmas in Montpellier

Les invités du Petit Jardin lèvent leurs verres pour un toast convivial. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO

30 invités spéciaux, étudiants et pensionnaires d’un Ehpad, ont partagé un inédit repas de fête au cœur du restaurant gastronomique de Clément Gueudré, dans une ambiance chaleureuse.

There was joy, laughter and great conversation at the Christmas table at Le Petit Jardin. A meeting as unique as it was warm with 30 special guests of the chef and owner of the gastronomic establishment, Clément Gueudré. “We wanted to give a piece of happiness and especially share it,” he said.

It was a bit of this Christmas magic that allowed 15 students and 15 residents of the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home, spread between the address on rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Atelier du Petit Jardin in Port Marianne, to enjoy a magnificent Christmas meal prepared by the teams.

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“It's a great Christmas present”

“It's a very good idea, smiles Xavier Philippe from La Maison des Petites Sisters of the Poor. CIt allows us to bring out the elderly and meet young people. And we’re going to have a great time!”

This great idea was concocted by Sandrine Coffre, Clément Gueudré’s mother, who contacted the Montpellier student mission association and La Maison des Petites Sœurs des Pauvres. “It’s a great Christmas present for our students”, confirms France Alépée, president of the association.

“It does us good, too, to offer this moment”

Tamari, a student in art history and archaeology, who came from Georgia, shared her enthusiasm about this special Christmas. “I'm in the middle of revising for my exams, and this event allows me to escape while meeting new people. I could never have afforded such a refined meal, especially in a setting like this”, she explains with a smile. For Tamari and many other students, this evening is a precious moment, far from the daily concerns related to precariousness.

Besides, it's Christmas and despite the major difficulties encountered by many students in terms of housing, food and access to care, we avoid, for a moment, talking about this precariousness any more than we talk about isolation. Make way for generosity, solidarity and conviviality. “It does us good, too, who lack nothing, to offer this moment of pleasure”, acknowledges Clément Gueudré. Who promises to repeat this meal every year. And who put all his gastronomic know-how to delight the guests : “We wanted the large table to be in the restaurant, on a normal day of service and not off to the side in the living room”. We were really in Le Petit Jardin… with a big heart!

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