a bakery in Sillé-le-Guillaume will close its doors for good, for lack of a buyer

Michel Debray got his hands dirty for the final chopsticks of his career. After 45 years of work in the bakeries, the baker from Sillé-le-Guillaume (Sarthe) is about to retire. “It will squeeze me tomorrow, it will make me feel funny. We’ll stop the stove for the last time”says the one who does not realize. For more than 30 years, Michel and his wife, Laurence, have run the bakery in the northwest of Le Mans. But they did not find a buyer.

In the village, only two bakeries will remain. “There are businesses that close one after the other and it dies little by little. That’s a shame”says a customer. The closure of the bakery also marks the end of the delivery of bread around Sille-le-Guillaume six times a week for almost 60 people. When he arrives in Pezé-le-Robert (Sarthe)Michel presses the horn, because in the village, the delivery has become a real appointment. Michel had been going there for 14 years for those they consider “friends”. But the time for the baker’s retirement has come.