Storefronts telling stories

August 9, 2016 -- The storefronts of Paris delight those who love to amble aimlessly.  Some shop windows are sleek and shiny, showing off the latest fashions.  Some are cluttered with cute and colorful stuff.  Some are welcoming, even enticing, strewn with good things to consume.  Some, like the travel agency windows, tell stories about places you can go, things you can do.  And some are deliberate or unintentional throwbacks to a Paris of the past, one that exists only in spots, here and there.

Souvenir shop on the Avenue de la Bourdonnais welcomes in many languages.

Au Petit Sud-Ouest, on the Avenue de la Bourdonnais, specializes in foie gras.  Toasters on the tables ensure that
your toast is warm when it receives the foie gras.

The use of English as a seemingly clever way of naming a business is popular, but as you can see,
it is fraught with unintentional (and funny) poor word choice.  Been food, now what?  Indigestion?
(Been Food is located on the rue Saint Charles.)

The nearest bar/tabac to our apartment is this one on the rue du Commerce.  Always, until this year, it has been closed for the entire month of August.  I am shocked to see that it is open for the entirety of August this year!  There is even a small poster by the front door announcing this, for those of us who can hardly believe our eyes.  While Tom and I do not hang out in bars at all, we do realize that the bar/tabac is an important resource for buying metro tickets, stamps, sim card recharges, and lotto tickets.  This tabac has never made any attempt to update or upgrade itself.  It is a time capsule, standing in stark contrast to the shops up and down the street, a rue du Commerce which has become a chic shopping destination.

Looking down at the rue du Commerce.