This local café on Place de la Reunion is usually brimming with customers, its terrace filled, especially on market days. For the moment, due to Coronavirus, it sits quiet, on pause until we return. A sign on the door announces its closure by government order, adding, “À très vite au café!”—a grammatically awkward expression, but the message is clear: see you soon. We hope so.
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This note, tacked up on the window of a beloved local café now shuttered because of confinement, sends a message of love and support from a customer. To all our local cafés: we love you. Nous vous aimons.
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The view from an inside table at Les Deux Magots. This classic café moment was captured in happier times, before cafés were forced to close due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It makes you ache to sit on the terrace of your favorite café once more. We hope we can soon again.
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Parisians are getting desperate without their cafés, which have been shut in an effort to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. This Parisian is lucky enough to have a terrace, and recreated his café experience in an effort to normalize the situation. This was sent to us as a gag, but we felt it worth sharing, as proof of how important café culture is to Paris and France. Send us your home café photos!
One of Andrew’s favorite cafés: La Fronde, 33 Rue des Archives, 4ème.
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As part of the shutdown to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus, cafés across France have been asked to close until further notice, an unthinkable, but necessary measure. Want to know what Paris would be like without cafés? This is it.
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We’re breaking our rules a bit today to pay homage to a wonderful longstanding family-owned restaurant in Montmartre, La Pomponette, which has recently closed its doors, perhaps another victim of the rampant gentrification/corporatization affecting the 18th arrondissement, and all of Paris.
Opened in 1909 by Arthur Delcroix, La Pomponette was frequented by his artist friends, like Francisque Poulbot et Eugène “Gen” Paul, whose works hung on the walls. Four generations of his family have lovingly tended the restaurant, which was a piece of Montmartre history for 100 years.
The decor never changed, maintaining the true charm of the artists’ village and the life that is unique to the Montmartrois. In 2014, the restaurant closed for two weeks—not for renovation, but for a restoration, when an artisan repaired the ancient floor tiles, one by one. That’s a family’s love.
I shot this photo that same year, while dining with my dear friend, writer/blogger Lisa Taylor Huff (The Bold Soul), with whom I co-founded No Love Locks. Lisa passed in 2015, so this photo is all I have of both her and the restaurant—a beautiful memory that will last even in times of change.
La Pompinette was located at 42 Rue Lepic, 18ème. See what you missed, here.
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The unexpected beauty in the little things cafés do. This is how Café des Anges served up their hot chocolate one day—like a flower. That’s melted chocolate on the sides and hot milk in the center. It was a shame to mix it up and spoil such a pretty sight. But mix I did, and delish it was.
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That perfect day when you find the perfect terrace table in the sun—and your socks match the decor. Meant to be.
La Boca, whose nondescript awning is marked simply with “LB,” has one of the sunniest terraces on Rue Montorgueil, which makes it a favorite of our editor.
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The perfect order of terrace tables, draped with warm blankets, make this terrace inviting even in winter. Seen in the 8th arrondissement, between Parc Monceau and Arc de Triomphe.
Continuing our frigate-theme for Cafe Photo of the Week, La Belle Poule is also the name of a 26-gun frigate (see the ship in the logo), famous for her battle against HMS Arethusa in 1778, which marked France’s entry into the American Revolutionary War. Three other ships bore the same name over France’s history—one, commissioned in 1834, was charged with bringing Napoleon’s ashes back to France, where they reside in the Invalides (7ème).
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Treize au Jardin is just down the street from my bookstore, The Red Wheelbarrow, in the 6th arrondissement. Owners Kajsa von Sydow (Swedish) and Laurel Sanderson (American) bring the friendliness of both of their cultures to this beautiful café, which sits just opposite Le Jardin du Luxembourg. Kajsa, who is often the welcoming face greeting you at the door, is partly responsible for the graceful and flowery décor, and comfortableness of the café: the private, intimate places to cozy up in; the large, round tables for groups of friends to gather—everything is extremely well thought out in this beautiful café.
But a great part of the attraction to Treize au Jardin is the food, which celebrates the American South. That’s Laurel’s domain. Biscuits, eggs Benedict, chicken and grits, craft cocktails and wholesome alcohol-free drinks, one called Liquid Sunshine. All the food is organic and responsibly sourced, prepared by chefs with years of experience.
I like the Artichoke Heart Pie, and the quinoa salad. Almost every day for lunch, I order their delicious daily soup, and a hot biscuit. But most people go for their Southern brunches (which are served all day, every day), or the Pecan Chicken. Or, their special Pulled Pork. They also make delicious cake, by the way.
The café is popular with locals—couples having a romantic rendez-vous; work colleagues conducting lunch meetings; families; writers; people looking for a café to read or work in—or even to propose in; American expats who want a taste of home; Parisians who want to travel to the American South for an hour or two. All of us.
But Treize au Jardin is a special place to me, personally. I owe the location of my bookstore to them. Laurel, who previously ran the much-adored Treize…A Baker’s Dozen on Rue des Saints Pères in the 7th, and a cake shop before that, is a friend from way back. We had often talked casually about doing a café-bookshop, and when they found their location on Rue de Medicis, there was an old librairie–book store—near them that was also going up for rent. Laurel told me about it and I swooped in and grabbed it. Laurel and Kajsa opened their café early summer 2018; we opened later that same summer.
I love having a café just next to the bookshop, and it’s wonderful how we share many of the same customers. There are families that eat at the café almost every weekend, and the children will rush into the bookshop to choose books before lunch arrives. I often send my own customers to the café, who report back how pleased they are with my recommendation. Our two businesses also help each other out in little ways, like when we run out of the rolls of paper for our credit card machines.
Cafés create community in a different way from bookshops, but in a way that compliments them. On Friday evenings, Treize au Jardin has great live music, which makes a wonderful end to our week at the bookshop. And of course, we at the Red Wheelbarrow stop over at Treize several times a day for their delicious coffee.
It’s a really warm feeling to have good friends running businesses near each other. We’re a community serving a community. •
PENELOPE FLETCHER is the owner of The Red Wheelbarrow, a beloved Anglophone bookstore on 9 Rue de Medicis, just opposite the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens in the 6th arrondissement. Follow the shop on Instagram.
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Terminus Nord sits in the shadow of Gare du Nord, Paris’s North Train Station. But it’s a destination in its own right. This moment captured by staff photographer, Patty Sadauskas.
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Like Paris cafés themselves, their chairs are each different in their own way. Most rattan bistro chairs have been handcrafted by the same company since 1920, Maison Gatti. Next time you’re seated at a terrace table, look for the telltale gold name plate on the back of your chair.
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There are cafés in Paris that draw your attention just because of their names. Each time I take the Métro to Montmartre, I pass Café Au Vrai Paris. And each time, I ask the same question: Why it called ‘At the True Paris’?Is there an At the Fake Paris? Maybe there was a fight between this café’s owner and a rival, who stole his café’s name?
One morning, I decided it was time for me to solve this mystery. So I went to have a true coffee at this “true” Paris café. The terrasse is agreable with its flowers and stylish chairs, but since it was raining, I went inside. But the moment I entered, I saw something that made me want to leave immediately: a big-screen TV showing rugby.
Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against rubgy. But I’m not keen on cafés with TVs. If I want to watch TV, I stay home. So I decided to sit at the back of the café, far away from the TV, on one of their comfortable couches. If you go to the back of this café, you will find a relaxing lounge-style space, but unlike most lounges, the music is not too loud. And everything is yellow: the chairs, the walls, the quotations from famous writers on the walls. Even the soft light is yellow.
A friendly waiter came to me to asked what I wanted. “A coffee, please,” I answered. “But first, I would like to know why this café is called Au Vrai Paris. With a big smile, he explained that this “true” Paris name was just a marketing strategy.
A bit disappointed by this prosaic answer, I started to observe my neighbors, a young Japanese couple who were drinking Champagne. I suppose for them this is what the true Parisian lifestyle is about: savoring a glass of Champagne with your lover in a charming and romantic café in Montmartre.
While I was drinking my coffee, I pondered another mystery: what is a true Parisian? Do you have to be born and raised in Paris? Can’t you feel Parisian just because you live here? Was this idea of being “a true Parisian” merely a marketing scheme? As I was standing to leave my cozy couch, my eyes fell on a quotation written on the wall. It was from Sasha Guitry, the celebrated French playwright, who was born in St. Petersburg. I waved au revoir to my friendly Parisian waiter and left.
As I walked to the Métro, I thought about Guitry’s quote, how it perfecting answered my mystery: “Being a Parisian is not about being born in Paris, it is about being reborn there.”
What to drink? Expresso Ville de Paris: 2.40 euros; hot chocolate 4.90 euros; hot mulled wine: 7 euros; organic cider: 7 euros
What to eat? Croque-monsieur and salad: 13 euros; traditional onion soup: 9.50 euros; Roasted Camembert with honey, rosemary, and walnuts: 9.50 euros; French toast with salted butter and hazelnut ice cream: 9 euros
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EDITH DE BELLEVILLE is a licensed tour guide in Paris, and the author of Belles et Rebelles, à l’ombre des Grandes Parisiennes (Éditions Erick Bonnier) available in French at Fnac.fr, Amazon.fr and Amazon.ca
VERSION FRANÇAISE
Il y a des cafés à Paris qui attirent votre attention juste par leurs noms. A chaque fois que je prends mon métro à Montmartre je passe toujours près du café Au vrai Paris. Et à chaque fois je me pose la même question Pourquoi ce café s’appelle t’-il Au Vrai Paris? Est-ce qu’il y a un café Au faux Paris? Peut-être y a-t-il un litige entre le propriétaire de ce café et un rival qui lui a volé le nom de son café?
Un matin je décidai qu’il était temps pour moi de résoudre ce mystère. Alors je décidai de prendre un vrai café au vrai Paris. La terrasse de ce café est agréable avec ses chaises stylées et ses fleurs mais comme il pleuvait je pris la décision d’aller plutôt à l’intérieur. Mais quand j’ai vu ce que j’ai vu, j’ai immédiatement songé à quitter cet endroit: Un énorme écran de télé montrant des joueurs de rugby était placé à l’entrée du café.
Ne vous méprenez pas, je n’ai rien contre le rugby. Mais je n’aime pas les cafés avec la télé. SI je veux regarder la télé je la regarde chez moi. Alors je me suis installée au fond du café le plus loin possible de la télévision et je me suis assise sur l’une des confortables banquettes. Si vous allez au fond du café vous constaterez que c’est un endroit relaxant avec une musique d’ambiance pas trop forte. Et tout est jaune: Les chaises, les murs et les citations inscrites sur les murs. Même la lumière tamisée est jaune.
Un sympathique serveur est venu me demander ce que je souhaitais. Un café s’il vous-plaît lui ai-je répondu mais d’abord je voudrais savoir pourquoi ce café s’appelle Au vrai Paris?. Avec un sourire il m’expliqué que ce nom d’ Au vrai Paris était juste une idée marketing.
Un peu déçue par cette réponse prosaïque, je me suis mise à observer mes voisins, un jeune couple de Japonais buvant du Champagne. Je suppose que pour eux voilà ce qu’est le vrai style de vie parisien: Savourer une coupe de Champagne avec son amoureux dans un charmant et romantique café à Montmartre.
Pendant que j’étais en train de boire mon café j’essayai de résoudre un autre mystère: Qu’est-ce que cela veut dire être un vrai Parisien? Est-ce qu’il faut être né et avoir été élevé à Paris pour être un vrai Parisien? Est-ce que vous ne pouvez pas vous sentir un vrai Parisien juste parce que vous vivez à Paris? Et si toute cette idée d’être «un vrai Parisien» n’était qu’un pur produit de consommation? Comme je me levais pour quitter ma confortable banquette et partir, je vis sur le mur une citation de Sasha Guitry, l’auteur bien connu des pièces de théâtre.
En partant je pris soin de faire un signe de la main vers mon gentil serveur pour lui dire au-revoir et je quittai le café. Et alors que je me dirigeais vers mon métro je me dis que Sasha Guitry, l’écrivain français né à Saint-Petersbourg avait raison. Etre Parisien ce n’est pas être né à Paris…..c’est y renaître
Où ? 33, rue des Abbesses, 18ème arr.
Quand ? 7h à 2h, tous les jours
Comment y aller ? Métro Abbesses, ligne 12
Que boire ? Expresso Ville de Paris : 2,40 euros ; chocolat chaud 4,90 euros ; vin chaud : 7 euros ; cidre biologique : 7 euros
Que manger ? Croque-monsieur et sa salade : 13 euros ; soupe à l’oignon traditionnelle : 9,5 euros ; Camembert rôti au miel et aux noix : 9,5 euros ; brioche façon pain perdu au caramel au beurre salé et glace : 9 euros; café ou thé gourmand : 9, 5 euros
Guide-conférencière à Paris, EDITH DE BELLEVILLE est également l’auteure de Belles et Rebelles, à l’ombre des Grandes Parisiennes ( Éditions Erick Bonnier ) un livre disponible à la Fnac.fr, Amazon.fr et Amazon.ca.
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The life of a tour guide finds you up ahead of the sun, especially during the strikes in France when you need to walk to your destination. This image captures Le Nemours on Place Colette, in the quiet dawn hours, preparing to receive its morning customers.
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Café Colette, in the 11th arrondissement, really takes the holidays seriously. This is just one of two trees (the other is inside) and the windows are painted by an artist. Despite the cold, this festive terrace is very inviting.
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There are cafés in Paris you are attracted to just because of the name. This is why I went to Bar Edith Piaf (aka Bar de la Place Edith Piaf). I guess I don’t have to introduce you to Edith Piaf. This neighborhood place is located in Square Edith Piaf in the working class district in the 20th arrondissement where Piaf once lived. It’s also not far from the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery where she is buried.
When I do my Edith Piaf tour, this place is a must to have coffee or lunch. Here, you find only locals, not one tourist. This bar, which is also a café and restaurant, is dedicated to the singer. You will feel like you’re having your coffee with Edith because she is everywhere.
It’s not trendy or chic, and not really historical, either. It’s just an ordinary—but authentic—café with real Parisians who share their daily lives together. And a very important detail: the toilets are clean, which is always a good sign.
Since I was hungry after my coffee, I ordered duck à l’orange with roasted garlicky potatoes, for a mere 10 euros. The bread was excellent, which is another good sign. I talked to my amiable table neighbors, a young Parisian couple who were with their adorable three-week-old baby, Martin. It’s not surprising that cafés are in the Parisian DNA since they start going to them from the day they’re born, evidently. The couple chose a vegetarian lentil salad, and the Norwegian salad, with smoked salmon, both which looked very tasty.
When my friendly waiter heard my name was also Edith, he asked me if I was a singer. “Only in the shower,” was my reply.
He told me that on Saturday evenings they organize musical soirées where the customers can sing French songs. “It’s really fun,” he said. “You should come!”
I promised him I would come back, and complemented him on the delicious duck I’d had, as well as the friendly ambiance.
“You did Edith proud,” I said as I left.
Then I started singing the street as I walked away. Hold me close and hold me fast, this magic spell you cast, this is la vie en rose…
Where? Place Edith Piaf (22 rue de la Py), Paris 20ème
When? Monday-Saturday, 8am-midnight. Check for their Saturday night music soirées.
How to get there? Métro Porte de Bagnolet, line 3, exit 5
What to drink? Coffee, tea, beer, at cheap prices
What to eat? Duck à l’Orange, 10 euros; Beef Tartare, 12 euros; Vegetarian Lentil Salad, 10.50 euros; Norwegian Salad, 11.50; Croque Monsieur, 8 euros; Fries, 4.50; Chocolat Mousse, 4 euros
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EDITH DE BELLEVILLE is a licensed tour guide in Paris, and the author of Belles et Rebelles, à l’ombre des Grandes Parisiennes (Éditions Erick Bonnier) available in French at Fnac.fr, Amazon.fr and Amazon.ca
Il y a des cafés à Paris qui vous attirent juste à cause de leur nom. C’est la raison pour laquelle je suis allée au bar Edith Piaf, juste à cause du nom. Je suppose qu’il est inutile que je vous présente Edith Piaf. Ce bar de quartier est situé place Edith Piaf dans un quartier ouvrier où Piaf habitait. Ce n’est pas loin du célèbre cimetière Père Lachaise où elle est enterrée.
Lorsque je fais ma visite guidée sur Edith Piaf je m’arrête obligatoirement dans cet endroit pour prendre un café ou bien déjeuner. Ici vous ne trouverez que des locaux, aucun touriste. Ce bar qui est aussi un café et un restaurant, est dédiée à la chanteuse. Vous aurez l’impression de prendre un café avec Edith parce qu’elle est partout.
Ce café n’est ni branché, ni à la mode, ni chic, ni historique. C’est un café ordinaire mais authentique avec de vrais Parisiens qui échangent à propos de leur vie parisienne de tous les jours. Et détail très important… les toilettes étaient propres ce qui est toujours bon signe.
Comme j’avais faim après mon café, j’ai commandé un canard à l’orange accompagné de pommes sautées à l’ail pour seulement 10 euros. Le pain est excellent ce qui est un autre bon signe. J’ai parlé à mes gentils voisins, un jeune couple qui était avec leur adorable nourrisson prénommé Martin âgé de trois semaines. Pas étonnant que les cafés de Paris soient dans l ‘ADN des Parisiens puisqu’ils les fréquentent à peine nés. Le gentil couple avait choisi une appétissante salade de lentilles, ainsi qu’une salade norvégienne avec du saumon fumé.
Quand j’ai dit au sympathique serveur que je m’appelais aussi Edith il m’a alors demandé si j’étais chanteuse.
– Seulement sous ma douche lui ai-je répondu.
– Les samedis soirs on organise des soirées musicales. Les clients chantent des chansons françaises, c’est très sympa, vous devriez venir.
Je lui ai promis de revenir et je lui ai dit en partant: –Mon canard était délicieux, j’ai vraiment apprécié mon repas et cet endroit est très sympathique. C’est bien, vous n’avez pas déçu Edith !
Puis je me suis mise à fredonner dans la rue : quand il me prend dans ses bras, qu’il me parle tout bas, je vois la vie en rose ….
Où ? Place Edith Piaf ( 22, rue de la Py ), 20ème
Quand ? Lundi à samedi, 8h à minuit. ( Vérifier les samedis soirs pour les soirées musicales. )
Comment y aller ? Métro Porte de Bagnolet, ligne 3, sortier 5
Que boire ? Tout est abordable
Que manger ? Canard à l’orange : 10 euros ; Tartare de boeuf : 12 euros ; Salade de lentilles végétarienne : 10,50 euros ; Salade Norvégienne : 11,50 euros ; Frites : 4,50 euros ; Croque-monsieur : 8 euros ; Mousse au chocolat : 4 euros
Guide-conférencière à Paris, EDITH DE BELLEVILLE est également l’auteure de Belles et Rebelles, à l’ombre des Grandes Parisiennes ( Éditions Erick Bonnier ) un livre disponible à la Fnac.fr, Amazon.fr et Amazon.ca
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