Brockley Royale with Cheese

Celine: An imperialist country can use that kind of thinking to justify their economic greed, you know. I - human rights... 
Jesse: Is there any particular imperialist country you have in mind, there, Frenchie? 
Celine: Mmm, no, not really... 
- Before Sunset


BC is currently holed up in Le Marais, an area of Paris that defies both economics and the sensibilities of BC trolls. Every centimetre is occupied by shops selling seahorse wallpaper, antique bagpipes, miniature leather whatnots, rubber Lego-clad notebooks, pressed flower place mats and paper cut dioramas.

Perhaps we're just less attuned to the differences between French people, but Paris seems less easy easy to divide in to tribal areas - however in London terms, Le Marais is probably best described as a haunt for hipsters with money. All is beauty and cool and the menu prices would set off an almighty rumpus in the comments section if a Brockley business dared try them.

In the middle of this, the coolest part of Paris, is an achingly hip furniture shop called Sentou. And occupying pride of place in the middle of the shop floor is a piece of Brockley design - an umbrella stand by Barber Osgerby, the team behind the Olympic Torch, another Brockley icon. We promise we don't go looking for this stuff.

Brockley's cultural imperialism claims the fashion capital of the world.