Posts Tagged ‘coffee’

Postcards from Paris February 2016

02/23/16 by Paris-Travel | 75014, Postcards from Paris | No Comments »

Today’s Postcards from Paris

Walk with me as I look for Petit Dejeuner (breakfast) on a Sunday morning in September

I’ve just created a video of one of my Sunday mornings in gai Paree last September – here we go – walk with me?

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The heart of Paris beats strong and is filled with love

Paris is alive and well, beautiful, exciting, filled with history, wondrous places, faces, things to do and see … and still holds my heart firmly in her hands :-)

After my visit in September, I was filled to overflowing with my Parisian-ness and basked in the glow of the love and friendships cemented for another year — in person rather than across the miles.

When the bombings happened not long after I returned to Australia, I was stunned and shocked like the rest of the world.

I immediately reached out to all the folks I knew in Paris and other parts of France to make sure everyone and their loved ones were safe and sound.  It was a dreadfully stressful time for those I knew in Paris, and the weeks and months since have been hard for them still in so many ways.

To the brave and courageous Parisians, I say BRAVO! You showed strength in the face of adversity, through dreadful events that no-one should witness or be part of, and you are all in my thoughts every day.

I must admit I found it hard to write about Paris for quite a long time as everything I wanted to say or share somehow sounded frivolous, and that was the last thing I wanted it to be.

Today I feel like my heart has healed a little bit, and I wanted to reach out and say the Parisians are strong, but their hearts are still hurting too — we must continue to visit this beautiful city, not be afraid to travel, to experience life.

Meeting people in Paris is one of the all-time favourite things I love to do — shopkeepers, cafe staff, waiters, chefs, department store staff, people waiting for buses and taxis — I love to talk to everyone — it makes me feel more like I live there, and to feel part of a community when I’m there for a month or so, and it is all of these brave folks who are waiting for us to come back and embrace Paris again.

I’ll be there to see you in September 2016, Paris!
I promise!

I hope to see you there too if you can make it!

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This video is fantastic! I just found it online and it’s captured the heart and soul of Paris — do you like it too??

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Looking for a list of easy things to do in Paris?

Pop over to this page for some of my ideas to help you enjoy your stay in my favourite city:

• click here see the list >>

 

More things to do:

• February in Paris
• March in Paris
• April in Paris

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Christmas

Points of interest:

• The Eiffel Tower / La Tour Eiffel
• The Louvre Museum / Musee du Louvre
• Notre Dame (Our Lady) Cathedral / Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris

Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe (video):

 

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The European Independent Film Festival 2016

Oh I wish I was going to be there for this event!!!

When:  8th, 9th and 10th of April 2016

Where:  at the Cinema 7 Parnassiens, 75014 Paris

BE WARNED! When you go to the website, there is a huge video on “autoplay” and it took me forever to find out how to turn it OFF. Here’s the button I finally found:

Visit the Website >>

This wonderful event is often referred to as the European equivalent of the Sundance Film Festival in the USA.

There’ll be films / features, shorts, documentaries, animated and student films and much more. There are 14 categories for 25 awards, including the prestigious title of ‘Best European Independent Film 2016’.

Attendees can watch film screenings as well as participate in various workshops including scriptwriting, editing and directing, and the ‘Meet-the-Directors’ discussions. A full program of live music is also being hosted by ÉCU’s partner Access Film-Music.

Do let me know if you do — I’d love hear what you think about this — send me an email via the site, or pop over to Facebook etc :-)

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Do you like a bit of comedy?

Here is English comedian Richard Ayoade and Mel Giedroyc spending 48 hours in Paris — very clever, loved it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSziA9M1eCk

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GOT QUESTIONS?? SEND ME A MESSAGE! LET ME KNOW :-) >>

I hope you’ve enjoyed these little slices of Paris, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Waving madly across the miles!

Ciao ciao for now, a bientot!

Teena!

(Back in Australia on the little island off the east coast)

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Cafe Coutume 47 rue de Babylone 75007

06/20/12 by Paris-Travel | 75007, What to drink in Paris | No Comments »

I first read about Cafe Coutume in an article in the Melbourne Age newspaper a while back, then was reminded about it again from my new friend Heath in Melbourne (Heath is one of my Postcards from Paris subscribers, and we met for the first time a couple of weeks ago in Melbourne).

From the article and others I’d read, I had a list of cafés to visit which were either owned by Aussies, run by Aussies or had Baristas trained in Australia. We’re such a nation of drinkers who appreciate good tasty Italian coffee that I was excited to go on a Latte Adventure in Paris, and see how each place fared.

The sun came out today, the second day so far in my first week back in Paris, so it’ll be lovely being out in the sunshine.

Today’s adventure was my second – yesterday’s attempt to have a coffee at Merce and the Muse in the Marais, was a dismal failure. It was Tuesday morning – and they were closed :-(

The Cafe Coutume Adventure begins!

I worked out which bus to catch from Blvd de Bonne Nouvelle in the 2nd arrondissement, and hopped aboard the number 39 bus heading south.  It was 12 stops through Paris and what a grand bus adventure it was, slipping into different parts of Paris from wide fabulous boulevardes to teeny tiny narrow streets where I felt we all breathed in (and held our breath) to help the bus escape unscathed.

I decided to get off the bus at the Sevres-Babylone stop, then I located rue de Babylone, and started walk, I passed a fabulous big gated park on my left and made a note have a picnic there one day. I kept walking and soon enough located number 47 on the left side of the narrow street.

With much anticipation (and the burning desire to have a really great Aussie-style latte) I approached the café and liked what I saw. Lots of white tiles on the counter fronts making it feel crisp and clean. Most of the tables were already taken (it was around 11:00 a.m.-ish) and I asked the Barista whether it was table service or counter service. The Barista had a lovely French accent and told me to grab a table and the waitress would be with me soon. I settled in and looked around at the clientele – some closest to me were speaking English with an Aussie accent, and there were plenty of French speakers too. Mums with strollers were peppered throughout the little cafe and it was a nice hubbub of noise.

I waited patiently for a while while the waitress buzzed around keeping very busy. After a while I thought I’d waited long enough, and then I found it was impossible to make eye contact with her so I flagged her down and ordered a latte.

My criteria for an excellent latte is:

• great aroma
• great colour (not too pale and milky, must look like there’s COFFEE in it)
• made by a Barista who understands that lattes need to be thick and creamy, with the creamy part at the top about a half an inch in depth
• hot – not scalding, but hot so it cannot be swallowed straight away, and needs to be savoured.

While I waited I checked out who was using laptops and smartphones, and asked for the Wifi login. On my iPhone I checked out the Settings/Wifi and found “Coutume” – the password is “CoutumeCafe”. The waitress told me it’s sometimes difficult to get connected, and today she’s right – I couldn’t connect.

I saw a few lattes going by on their way to their new owners (which looked very pale by my standards), so by the time mine arrived I was hanging out to have what I thought might be the best coffee so far in Paris in my first week back here. I won’t keep you in suspense – I was disappointed. The coffee wasn’t strong enough, hot enough, thick and creamy like an Aussie latte. I persevered but no, it just wasn’t worth it for me, so I only drank half of it. When the colour is too milky and the froth at the top is not thick and creamy and about half an inch (1.25cm) deep, I know it may not be what I’m looking for.

• Price: 4 euro / approximately $AUD4.99 / approximately $US5.08

As always with coffee reviews, this is my experience on one coffee on one day; if I return I may have a totally different experience – I’m looking forward to that. So go along, buy a coffee and let me know what you think.

Map for Cafe Coutume 75007

[mappress mapid=”20″]