Bars and cafés are an institution in France. But over the years, their popularity has waned and their number has fallen from 200,000 in the 1960s to about 35,000 today. The reason: high costs and too few customers.

The closure of a café, which enables social contact, encourages a sense of community and can provide a rare place for people to get together, is often the death knell for a village.

We look into some of the bistros that are trying to resist this trend.