Un café, s'il vous plaît!

Bonjour tout le monde,

Your favorite Alliance intern here. If you are anything like me, you enjoy a good cup of coffee. I know some of you aren’t fans of coffee, and I get that… you’re just wrong. No disrespect, I just needed you to know who you’re talking to: an avid coffee drinker and lover. And as that coffee lover, I have come to encounter many cups and different types of coffee, including the famous French café.

As an American, ordering un café in France for the first time was both fun and confusing. Because what you get is a shot of espresso, and not a massive, diner sized cup of joe that we are all so fond of and used to. But hey, after a while I got used to my little espresso shot and actually began to enjoy it.

Now, there must be something in the air in France that allows people to have a shot of espresso 5+ times a day and still sleep through the night because it seemed to me that everyone would prend un café all the time. This quite impressive French tolerance and infatuation with coffee got me wondering… is there something special about French coffee?

Turns out, it isn’t the coffee necessarily that is so special, but it is the ritual of going to a café to order un café that is so special! You see, cafés (the place not the drink) since the 17th century have served as important meeting places for social, political and culinary innovation. In Paris particularly, going to a café was oftentimes more useful than reading a newspaper when it came to getting information, news, or gossip. The café turned into a place where you could eat, talk, drink, meet new people, share ideas and be a part of society. They were also a hub for artists and writers alike, such as Voltaire and Rousseau. No wonder they are si populaires and found on every corner in France!

“Ah ha!” I think. So it is the history and tradition of the café that fuel the French obsession with espresso shots at any hour of any day. Next time I find myself with a piping hot espresso, in a Parisian café, whether in my dreams or in reality,  I will be thinking of the centuries of café drinkers, socialites, inventors, artists and politicians that potentially sat in the very same seat, and I will smile.

Jane Eagleton