ImagesBrighton pictures of the week 6-9-2004

IMAGESBRIGHTON photography by david gray	S H O P P I N G I N P A R I S
	P I C T U R E S O F T H E W E E K 6 - 9 - 2 0 0 4
	These pictures can be bought for personal or commercial use Prices start at £8 for print quality digital files.

In this world of monotonous shopping centres and soulless supermarkets, thank heavens for the shops of Paris. Bakers that still bake bread. Real butchers and fishmongers. Repair shops that do the work on the premises. Markets groaning with fresh seasonal produce. Well-stocked bookshops open late into the evening. Fashion stores from the cheap and cheerful to the eye-wateringly expensive. It's all still there in the streets of Paris, which continues to support a network of independent shops managing to mix traditional and modern styles of retailing. There are threats, of course, and the endless suburbs of the French capital contain superstores as similarly featureless and depressing as elsewhere in France and the rest of Europe. The bakers are fighting to survive and rising property prices are forcing out small shopkeepers in many trades. But a walk through any area of Paris within the Peripherique ring road is still a joy for anyone who appreciates real choice, character and value in their shopping. All the pictures in this week's set were taken in June 2004..

Pavement clothes shop display in the Rue Saint-Denis (image 2522-152)

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