EVOLUTION

BRANDS' MARKUPS ALLOW HUGE RENTS, WHICH RAISE ALL RENTS: WHEN OWNERS OF TRADITIONAL SHOPS RETIRE, 

MERCHANTS OF COMPARABLE SPIRIT LACK THE MEANS TO REPLACE THEM

Take what used to be a historic café, where furious debates took place during the Revolution and Napoleon became a client. Until 2016 it remained a restaurant, where life- sized engravings of Louis-Philippe's family* lined the walls. 

*The head of the Bourbon junior branch and France's last king (1830-1848). Its connection with the site is explained here.

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The gardens are reflected in the window.

These engravings are much less impressive, but give the idea:  

 

Engravings sold on the web 

A brand now occupies the site. Its only connection with the luxury of the past is its cost.

Their cost, in 2019; the list is no longer posted, but prices appear on the web.

Gardens that once boomed with commercial energy and revolutionary zeal are now by nightfall silent.

 

A few shops

that propose luxuries worth their cost remain. 

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Next,

The ambiance of a Balzac novel