An evocative collection of photos. This is one of the (many) things the French have got right and the British completely wrong: our town centres are dominated by the same nationwide chains and franchises which have squeezed out most of the independent, family-owned businesses. That wouldn't be so bad if they didn't also insist on using the identical store frontage and signs so that a high street in Wrexham looks the same as a high street in Bolton.
The French had the bright idea of insisting that a chain which opens in an old-fashioned, traditional location adapts its look to blend in with the surroundings. There's nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia. The Germans should have done the same but their war guilt meant they became uneasy about that charming old "Germanic" architecture and so have vandalised their own towns going for the modern look (and finishing off what little the British and American bomber commands had left standing). ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <turquoiseb@...> wrote : Here's a great resource stumbled upon by my still-favorite Paris blogger, Messy Nessy Chic. It's a stash of really cool photos "documenting forgotten ghost signs, shop fronts, vintage typography and general nostalgia of bygone French patrimony." http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/06/04/heres-an-instagram-account-dedicated-to-finding-forgotten-french-ghost-signs/ http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/06/04/heres-an-instagram-account-dedicated-to-finding-forgotten-french-ghost-signs/ I particularly like this one, which captures that curious ability that Paris has of completely changing its nature in mid-block, or at a street corner. For example, the corner of rue du 4 Septembre et rue Vivienne:
