Certain stories seem so unlikely that even the most convinced optimists briefly furrow their brows. It is exactly this kind of story that is currently unfolding in the small port town of Cassis on the French Mediterranean coast. Where usually sailboats sway, tourists drink pastis, and the calanques look painted by the sun, everything suddenly revolves around millions.
To be precise: almost 49 million euros.
At the heart of the action is a modest tobacco shop with the typically southern French name “La Civette du Port.” A shop like many others in reality — cigarettes, magazines, lottery tickets, a little conversation at the counter. But in just one week, this place has become a kind of pilgrimage site for luck seekers.
On April 21, a Euromillions ticket validated in this shop first offered a French winner a share of more than 48 million euros. That alone is usually enough to make headlines across France. The Euromillions jackpot is indeed one of the most difficult lotteries in Europe. The odds of winning the big prize are astronomical — as realistic as a spontaneous snowstorm in the middle of summer in Marseille.
And then it happened again.
A few days later, the Française des Jeux announced again a win of one million euros in the same store. This time, it was “only” one million euros won through the additional game “My Million,” automatically linked to every Euromillions bet. A couple from the region was completely surprised by this rain of money.
Particularly curious: the winner had dreamed several times of winning the lottery beforehand. Her friends initially laughed about it. She herself then started playing regularly. Not fanatically, rather with the slogan: “Why not?” In the end, it was not her personal number combination that decided the win, but the automatically generated code of the additional game.
Well, that’s how life sometimes plays out.
In Cassis, almost everyone is talking about it now. In front of the small shop, groups of people constantly gather. Tourists photograph the entrance door, locals suddenly buy lottery tickets regularly, although they had not filled out a single one for years before. This place lives off its stories — fishermen’s tales, port gossip, summer romances. But this chapter is currently beyond all that.
The business is experiencing an exceptional state. Between the tobacco shelves and the postcards, there has been a rush for several days. Some customers enter almost with reverence, as if a bit of luck had soaked into the walls.
France loves this kind of story.
Especially in times of economic uncertainty, lottery millionaires have an almost magical effect. Ordinary people whose lives change completely in a matter of seconds — this touches many. Perhaps because a silent hope is hidden behind it: that life sometimes opens surprising doors.
And Cassis provides the perfect setting for this. This small coastal town is already considered a dream location between Provence and the Mediterranean. Narrow alleys, colorful facades, cafés by the water — almost too beautiful to be true. Now it also has the reputation of a “lucky harbor.”
No one knows if the miracle of Cassis will last. Probably the statistics are rather against it. But people hardly care about statistics when there are millions to be won somewhere.
The small tobacco shop at the harbor has already achieved cult status.
Or as many French now say: the famous “lucky lottery tobacco shop” — the lucky tobacco shop.
By C. Hatty