France Tackles'Bad' Cafe Culture

　　凡是到巴黎观光旅游的人，都喜欢到马路边上或广场旁边的咖啡馆坐一坐，买上一杯咖啡和三明治，优哉游哉地喝着吃着，领略一下巴黎人的浪漫情调。上咖啡馆早已成为巴黎人的一种生活方式，咖啡馆也已成为法国社会和文化中的一个典型特征。然而，近几年法国的咖啡馆文化正在走下坡路。

The owners of France's 60,000 bars, brasseries and cafes have said poor service is driving customers away, and have promised to do better. "Customers are right to complain of a poor or non-existent welcome and a lack of basic courtesy and reactivity," an industry spokesman said. The number of cafes and customers has been dwindling as the number of complaints has been growing, he added. Also, busy customers have less time and do not drink as much, observers say. The number of French cafes has dropped from 150,000 to 60,000 in 15 years, said Andre Daguin, president of the French hotel and catering industry's main trade association, UMIH. "Every year there are fewer people in the cafes and more and more complaints," he said. "We have to take criticisms into consideration and react, other the haemorrhage will continue." After a particularly difficult summer, the industry has decided to work hard at attracting customers. It will set up a new institute to tackle the problems and a charter of quality to improve service, comfort levels, products and hygiene. The project will be presented to the tourism minister next month.