Modern, busy, Starbucks....the perfect Global city

[Minato Ku]

Stereotype hate me.
Scene of the Parisian life

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Enjoy

[Chelsea Spy]

**

[Chelsea Spy]

Those pictures show a great sample of Parisian life.

All those Starbucks though... how depressing... I hope the bland, homogenised, pseudo-cafe 'culture' represented by Starbucks won't displace the great French cafe... could one imagine Sartre, Camus or Hemingway for that matter writing their masterpieces in a Starbucks, as opposed to the Flore or Les Deux Magots?

[Kilgore Trout]

yes, paris is the quintessential global city. but it's the people, the culture and the business that really determine that, not the presence of chains like mcdonald's and starbucks. after all, they can be found in abundance in even the most podunk towns in middle america.

in any case, i appreciate the fact that you always include people in your streetscenes. your photos very honestly convey the parisian reality.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by Chelsea Spy

I hope the bland, homogenised, pseudo-cafe 'culture' represented by Starbucks won't displace the great French cafe

the traditional french café is a fundamentally different creature. starbucks is essentially a fast-food outlet like mcdonald's (and there's certainly no shortage of mcdo in paris!). it just happens to serve coffee instead of hamburgers.

[Minato Ku]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

yes, paris is the quintessential global city. but it's the people, the culture and the business that really determine that, not the presence of chains like mcdonald's and starbucks. after all, they can be found in abundance in even the most podunk towns in middle america.
.

I aware of that, Starbucks in the title was a joke.
Chelsea Spy don't worry there is still a lot of traditional cafe.

[Bergenser]

good and many images!
I never knew Paris was so multiethnical.

[SHiRO]

Great pictures! Reminds me I need to head south more often (it's only a couple of hours away afterall).

[insanenuyawka]

Originally Posted by Bergenser

good and many images!
I never knew Paris was so multiethnical.

Not to sound offensive, but wouldnt europeans know that more than anyone else?

[Jonas]

Paris as it should be...

I remember my first experience in Paris though... which will never go out of my mind. Once I got there (it was in March this year) I realised that I didn't know the address (and even forgot the name) of my hostel... I though "it's ok, I'm gonna use Internet and find it out easily"... naive me, it took me about 6 hours to find an Internet cafe (and even that was lucky!). I was nervously walking down the alleys and it was getting late (something about 10p.m.) which meant that I might had to deal with the fact that I would have to spend the night on the street
I remember on that night I promised myself to never come there again... but it seems I've changed my mind, I wanna go to Paris at the first chance

[Minato Ku]

Thanks

[brandonpdx]

I love Paris. Seeing all of those Starbucks is a bit annoying though, but please it's not going to close down the French cafe life style just as McDonalds didn't close up French Restaurants.

[Minato Ku]

Originally Posted by brandonpdx

I love Paris. Seeing all of those Starbucks is a bit annoying though, but please it's not going to close down the French cafe life style just as McDonalds didn't close up French Restaurants.

Don't be worry for that.
Near my home there is a Starbucks and a McCafe in the same place but Paris will always have traditional cafes and little french restaurants.

In the case of Paris little french restaurant, these are more worrie about the high and growing numbers ethinic restaurants than the Mac Donald's.

[denveraztec]

Great shots, as always posted by you, of a fantastic city! Thank you for sharing! The diversity with the people, as well as the restaurants, is happening in every major city. It is the way we each choose to accept those differences that makes us who we are. We can embrace and learn from different cultures and become so much more enlightened for it.

[the dude]

always a pleasure to see paris. thanks for the tour.

[Minato Ku]

Yeh, thanks for your comment

[the pope]

starbucks, mcdonald's and kfc, just like america!

[atl2phx]

starbucks, mickey d's and KFC on every block? ughhh, so much has changed since i was there 15 years ago.

[Metropolitan]

Originally Posted by Chelsea Spy

Those pictures show a great sample of Parisian life.

All those Starbucks though... how depressing... I hope the bland, homogenised, pseudo-cafe 'culture' represented by Starbucks won't displace the great French cafe...

Starbucks became popular in Paris mainly because it's much more comfortable than in a French cafés, generally waiters aren't as rude as in French cafés, and the expresso costs 1€ instead of 2€20.

But anyway, the cafés market is so big in Paris that there's no risk it will disappear. Actually, most "bar-tabac" are getting bought by the Asian communities currently. The reason being that the Asian restaurants market has reached saturation. This isn't a bad news to tell the truth, as generally the new owners try to do some stuff to boost their sales and as a result they change them in nicer places to stay.

Anyway, Minato Ku, presented the modern and busy face of Paris, here's a video I've made showing the crazy face of the city. Hope you'll like it!

• Video Link

[Minato Ku]

So much comment in a little time, In the second page I will add some other pictures.
Yes Metropolitan has write, asian communities bought also food and clothing shops in the subway.