Cafe culture Paris © Malias@flickr CC-BY
Paris is such a beautiful city where there is always something happening somewhere. I love to just wander through the streets and I especially love the spring and summer months when the cafés and restaurants overflow onto the pavements with their elegant terraces full of people enjoying their meals or just a couple of drinks before lunch. People watching in Paris, is a wonderful pass time and the best way of doing just this is to sit at a table on a terrace of one such café or restaurant. Lazy afternoons reading a book or a newspaper in Paris in a café on a small but busy side street, is my idea of heaven.
There are cafés on just about every street in this vibrant, cosmopolitan city, so no matter where you find yourself there is always a warm welcome waiting for you together with some of the best coffee in the world. I love mid mornings in Paris, just before midday when Parisians and visitors to the city begin to think about where to go for their lunchtime meals and more importantly to have an aperitif.
Cafe in Paris © Malias@flickr CC-BY
One of my favourite streets in Paris is Notre Dame Des Champs and I particularly enjoy sitting at the café on the corner of La Place Brea sipping a Ricard and watching the world go by. The summer in Paris is the most beautiful time to be in the city and I adore the café scene because it feels so civilised. Paris in August is a quiet time, as most Parisians have left the hustle and bustle of city life and gone off to various summer destinations all over the country for their annual break, but this is not to say that there is not a lot to do and see.
Café culture in Paris is an art form in its’ own right and the tradition has existed for decades. It is such an accepted part of social life where people meet up and discuss the events of the world and there are famous cafés where artists have met and still do, to discuss and debate the art scene. Le Café Des Artiste is one such place, where the walls are decorated with past works of artists who made this their number one meeting place over the years.
Café de Flore in Paris
Paris without its cafés just would not be the same and this trend has taken over the world with all major cities now having their own café cultures. But Paris still remains unique and visitors to the city all fall in love with it as soon as they arrive here. A coffee in the morning, a grand crème or café ‘bien serré’ with a pain au chocolat or croissant is just so very French as well as being so very good.
I have always loved Paris and I have been very lucky in that I have often had the opportunity of spending time here both during the winter and the summer. I love the Paris café culture because it embodies everything that is so very traditionally French. It doesn’t really matter what time of the year you arrive in Paris because the café scene is one thing that will always be constant and the coffee is guaranteed to be good.