The day started out so splendidly, despite the raindrops on the window pane. I even found a new juice bar while tooling around town. But for every new opening, there is a closing, and I almost cried when I saw my beloved independent coffee house, Autour d’Un Café, is now a cheap sushi restaurant!
At first I thought I made a mistake, but I knew it was #55 bd Sebastopol, and there was still the same brown awning…turned inside out! I peeked underneath and saw the old café name. Sigh. Such a shame. It was just like the coffee houses I remember from my college days in Minnesota (but this was definitely a French owner), with flavored coffees, homemade muffins, a big sofa to sit on and lots of reading material.
I’m sure it’s closing is in no way linked to the fact that TWO Starbucks have opened nearby in the past year. Grrrrrr….
Folks, please support the remaining independently owned cafés. Visit Starbucks all you want when you’re in the US, but when in France, try and avoid chains! If the whole world had the same shops, cafés and restaurants, what would be the point of traveling?
Fuck yeah! stupid frickin chains! I like the way you think, i globalisation destroys culture; but I dont think its something governments can stop, i mean in a way thats just life hey, but its for us _the people_ to stop. Like we can (kinda) do something about it, and support what we love.I wanna come to Paris end next year, so they better damn keep those kickass cosy little coffee houses going. Screw the gay ‘ol Starbuck. Die Starbuck, die.