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Close to the Pantheon and the Sorbonne in the heart of the Latin Quarter, Roger Lhopitallier's pharmacy is among the oldest in Paris. But he is not sure how much longer it will survive, as Felix Corley discovered
As the French pharmacy system catches up with the rest of Europe - with the likelihood that competing chains of pharmacies selling a full range of pharmaceutical and other products will eventually be introduced - Roger Lhopitallier is determined to preserve the values of the past. These centre on personal service to the customer.
"This is one of the oldest of Paris's surviving pharmacies," Mr Lhopitallier tells me, as we sit in his study next to the shop. "The pharmacy moved here in 1857 when Baron Haussmann was extending the street where the pharmacy used to be. It has remained on this site ever since."
He explains that the French pharmacy profession was only formalised under King Louis XV in the 18th century, when diplomas were first issued in Paris. "Before then, pharmacists were simply untrained." He notes that pharmacists preferred to be based close to universities. The Sorbonne is just a few hundred yards from his pharmacy.
The shop front is certainly elegant, retaining the looks of a 19th century pharmacy. The phials in the window even include one for cocaine, once a popular ingredient.
Walking in is like stepping into the past. The dark interior has wooden cabinets and mirrors, and bottles of substances with Latin names line the walls. Pictures of even older pharmacies and medicine- manufacturing hang in the spaces between the cabinets.
A marble pestle and mortar is kept on a stand and an ancient cash- register stands on the counter. But this is no museum. There are displays of modern medicines and products such as sugar-free sweets.
"My grandfather bought the pharmacy in 1892 and my father succeeded him. I am now the owner and am proud to continue the tradition," said Mr Lhopitallier. He began working at the shop with his father in 1972,...