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France = Cafes...but is the cafe culture dying?
Maia de la Baume's article Across France, Cafe Owners Are Suffering lays it all out. Sigh. But cafes are so....French! Apparently, all over France, traditional cafes and cafe-bars are suffering due to changing attitudes, habits, and the poor economic climate: "In 1960, France had 200,000 cafes....now it has fewer than 41,500, with an average of two closing every day." Mon Dieu!
It doesn't help that Sarkozy's government extended its smoking ban to bars, cafes and restaurants this year, and local police hover near bars at night in efforts to crack down on drunk-drivers.
Cafes, once the place to be in a town, was where one relaxed, hung out with friends, did business, and savoured a meal. A Parisian cafe owner observes: "The way of life has changed...The French are no longer eating and drinking like the French. They are eating and drinking like the Anglo-Saxons (the British and Americans)" because "they eat less and spend less time at it." People are now buying coffee and liquor to drink and make at home, or grabbing a cup of coffee at a kiosk en route to work, smoking on the way.
One cafe owner lamented: "We have to be very careful...If we standardize everything in France, and we study everything, and forbid everything, we destroy respect for our culture. We need to preserve the cafe bar. What is a village but a cafe, a school, a pharmacy, a bakery and a city hall?"
What's France without cafes? Sigh.
More: Maïa de la Baume's article Across France, Cafe Owners Are Suffering | Image credit @ here
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Comments
Argh so sad! What are the French thinking?!
Could this just be the result of the economics of cafes? Paris is amazing, but it's expensive! And surprisingly, the prices at Parisian cafes for eating in are higher versus taking your cappuccino and croissant to go. Or maybe it's a sign that this French institution isn't evolving with the French culture and society?
December 9, 2008 at 1:36 AM
Comments (2)
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