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French Cafés Succumb to the Credit Crunch

"There are things that, right now, we can't afford; there are other things that we can't afford to lose." Photograph from Marcelo Alves on Flickr It seems to me that France is devolving into America. I say devolving because, over the last however many centuries, the French have silently declared themselves the possessors of a superior culture, and we Americans have unreluctantly concurred. But now it seems that French culture is trotting doggedly on the heels of America. First Coca-Cola, then the smoking ban, and now the recession. The New York Times quotes café owner Bernard Picolet as claiming, "The way of life has changed. The French are no longer eating and drinking like the French. They are eating and...

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5 Comments | Posted by Kerry Saretsky, November 29, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Tagged: cafe society, cafes, France, the economy