Casino Barrière Royan

Casino Barrière Royan is the sole remaining gambling establishment in the seaside town of Royan, on France's Atlantic coast. It stands on the Pontaillac beach in the western part of the commune, at 2 Esplanade de Pontaillac, and is operated under the Barrière brand by Groupe Barrière, one of France's largest casino and hospitality groups. The site's history reaches back to a café-restaurant built in 1880 known as "La Restauration"; rebuilt in concrete in the 1930s, it took the name "Le Sporting" and became a celebrated entertainment venue. It was the only Royan casino to escape the Allied bombardments of 1945 that destroyed the town's other gaming houses, and from 1946 to 1987 it was directed by Roger Genty, a trained violinist who turned its stage into a fixture of the post-war French music-hall circuit. Big Bill Broonzy, Charles Trenet, Joséphine Baker, Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Charles Aznavour, Yves Montand and Georges Brassens all performed there. Today the establishment combines gaming rooms with a theatre, bars and restaurants, and is marketed by Barrière as a complete evening destination. Its programme includes stand-up and dinner-shows, a loyalty scheme called Barrière Play, and seasonal promotions such as a car giveaway. The casino is open daily from 09:00, closing at 03:00 on most nights and 04:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. It presents itself as committed to responsible gaming, to a corporate social responsibility programme called Planète Barrière, and to accessibility under the national Tourisme & Handicap label. Because Royan's other casinos — the first and second casinos de Foncillon, the municipal casino by Gaston Redon, and Claude Ferret's modernist casino — were all destroyed during or after the war, this Pontaillac establishment is the town's only remaining gaming venue and the direct heir to a long tradition of seaside leisure that began in the 19th century.

The history of casinos in Royan is inseparable from the rise of sea-bathing tourism on France's Atlantic coast. In the 19th century, Royan, once a small fishing port living almost exclusively from fishing and pilotage in the Gironde estuary, was transformed by the fashion for "bains de mer". In 1843 the municipality decided to build a first casino, and the "Société civile des bains de mer de Royan" was created to manage seaside activities. It bought a house belonging to a London rentier, Thomas Wildeman, and converted it into a ballroom, while engineers Jules Lessore and Augustin Botton were commissioned to erect a proper building. Completed in 1845, this neo-classical casino stood amid gardens but turned its back to the sea. Judged too cramped by the end of the century, it was replaced in 1882 by a second casino a few metres away, overlooking the beach. In 1927 the old building became the town hall until its destruction in the 1945 bombardment. The second casino de Foncillon was built between 1882 and 1885 on land dominating the Foncillon beach, on the site of the present-day congress centre. Designed by architect Bertrand-Alfred Duprat in a neo-baroque style, it expressed both the town's prosperity and the ambition of mayor Frédéric Garnier to make Royan the leading seaside resort on the Atlantic coast. Its sea-facing façade was flanked by two towers with slate-domed roofs, and it was richly ornamented with mosaics by the Maisonneuve firm of Bordeaux and sculptures by Jean-Adrien Barbot. It housed a gaming room, a restaurant and a vast ballroom capable of holding a thousand people. Like its predecessor, it was entirely destroyed in the air attacks of 1945. Only ten years after the Foncillon casino was finished, the municipality decided to build a new casino in the town centre. Architect Gaston Redon was instructed to spare neither space nor proportion, and the Parisian contractor Léon Laplau completed the work in record time: barely five months after the first stone was laid, the casino was inaugurated with great ceremony. Its monumental neo-rococo façade, more than 80 metres long, faced the Grande-Conche beach and preceded a ballroom crowned by a slate dome and an Italian-style theatre. The greatest performers appeared there: Sarah Bernhardt played "L'Aiglon", Cléo de Mérode danced, and the Opéra and the Comédie-Française presented shows, operettas, ballets and symphonic concerts. Considered one of the most beautiful casinos in the country and featured on many advertising posters of the era, it was also the largest casino in France until its destruction by bombs in 1945. The establishment that survives today is the one at Pontaillac, in the western part of the commune. It succeeded a first café-restaurant built in 1880 and known as "La Restauration". Rebuilt in concrete in the 1930s, it took the name "Le Sporting". It was the only casino to escape the 1945 bombardments, and from 1946 to 1987 it was directed by Roger Genty, a violinist by training. Under him the Sporting hosted many post-war stars. In 1951 the American blues great Big Bill Broonzy performed there, soon followed by Charles Trenet, Marie Dubas and Jean Nohain. In 1953 Joséphine Baker took the stage, followed the next year by Jacques Brel, Charles Trenet, Line Renaud and the comedian Fernand Raynaud. Grand galas were organised in all seasons, paced by Henry Laura's orchestra. In later years the Sporting's stage welcomed Raymond Devos, Sacha Distel, Léo Ferré, Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Bécaud, Petula Clark, Yves Montand and Georges Brassens. Since the destruction of Claude Ferret's casino, it has been the town's only gaming establishment. Claude Ferret, charged with rebuilding the town after the 1945 bombardments, designed a casino with bold lines intended to follow the curve of the seafront. That modernist building, destroyed in 1985, was one of the flagship monuments of the Royan area because of its avant-garde character. With its disappearance, the Pontaillac establishment — today Casino Barrière Royan — remained the sole survivor of Royan's five historic casinos.

• 1985

  Claude Ferret's modernist casino is destroyed, leaving Le Sporting as Royan's only gaming establishment.

• 1954

  Jacques Brel, Charles Trenet, Line Renaud and Fernand Raynaud appear at Le Sporting.

• 1953

  Joséphine Baker performs at Le Sporting.

• 1951

  Big Bill Broonzy performs at Le Sporting, followed by Charles Trenet, Marie Dubas and Jean Nohain.

• 1946

  Roger Genty, a trained violinist, takes direction of Le Sporting, a role he holds until 1987.

• 1945

  Bombardments destroy the Foncillon and municipal casinos; Le Sporting is the only casino to survive.

• 1930

  The Pontaillac café-restaurant is rebuilt in concrete and renamed Le Sporting.

• 1927

  The first casino building is converted into the town hall.

• 1895

  The municipal casino by architect Gaston Redon is inaugurated after only five months of construction; it is the largest casino in France.

• 1885

  The second casino de Foncillon, designed by Bertrand-Alfred Duprat, is completed.

• 1882

  The first casino is replaced by a second casino overlooking the Foncillon beach.

• 1845

  The first casino, a neo-classical building by engineers Jules Lessore and Augustin Botton, is completed.

• 1843

  The municipality decides to build Royan's first casino; the Société civile des bains de mer de Royan is created.

A seaside casino and entertainment destination operated under the Barrière brand, combining gaming, dining and live performance in a historic Pontaillac venue.

• Casino gaming rooms

• Theatre and live shows (stand-up, dinner-shows)

• Restaurants & Bars Gourmets Collection

• Barrière Play loyalty programme

1. 1Casino Barrière Royan : Jeux, spectacles, bars et restaurants | Casino Barrièrecasinosbarriere.com
2. 2Casinos in Royanwikidata.org
3. 3Casinos de Royanfr.wikipedia.org