Since I had such a terrific turnout from the photos you sent from the Your Favorite Paris Photo post a few weeks ago, I’ve decided to do a follow up post.
Do you have a favorite Paris story you would like to share? If you do, I would love you to send it to me to post on Eye Prefer Paris. It could be funny, romantic, bittersweet, or whatever theme you like. I just have a few parameters.
- 1. Please keep it under 500 words, so I can include all of your stories.
- 2. Please use either the Word program, or a similar program to check your spelling and grammar before you send it.
Please send your story to [email protected] before June 10. You can send a photo with it, if you have one. I look forward to receiving your stories.
Now here’s my favorite Paris story.
My First Time at Café de Flore
My first visit to Paris was in June of 1976, and I couldn’t wait to return. I met Vincent in 1977, and he had never been to Paris or Europe. In July of 1978, we took a grand tour of Europe and we went to London, Paris, Rome, Florence, and Venice.
When we arrived in Paris, we stayed in a small, inexpensive hotel, The Crystal, on rue Saint Benoit, just a few doors down from Café de Flore, in the heart of Saint Germain des Pres. At that time, Saint Germain was the hip and happening area of Paris, much like the Marais is today.
My brother had recommended the hotel, and he also said we must have breakfast at Café de Flore.
So the next morning, we went to Café de Flore, and sat outside on the classic wicker, café chairs. The warm and sunny day was perfect weather for Vincent to experience his first visit to a Paris café and my first visit to the legendary Café de Flore.
In the early 1970s, when my parents visited Paris for the first time, I remember when they returned home, my father raved about how wonderful the Paris cafes were because you could stay there all day and no one would bother you, but exclaimed “ Could you believe it, they charge almost a dollar for a teeny cup of coffee, with no refill” ( a big cup of coffee in New York at the time was 15 cents.) Keeping that in mind, we carefully budgeted for cafes and restaurants.
After we sat down, we noticed a basket full of croissants on the table and we thought it was odd, but then we naively thought, Wow, isn’t that nice of them to offer free croissants. We loved the café au lait, served in the oversized cups resembling bowls with the green Café de Flore logo on them, and the sensation of steamy foam and hot milk on our lips, so much so, we each ordered two cups.
At that time, Café de Flore was not as touristy as it is now, so we marveled at the chic and well dressed Parisians sipping their morning café and reading the newspaper. We also thought how cool it was that people could bring their dogs to the café.
Two-hours, four café au laits, and six croissants later, we finally asked for l’addition, one of the only French words we knew besides merci and solde.
The waiter scrawled a bunch of almost undecipherable numbers on a piece of paper and handed it to me. After squinting at it for a long time, I figured what his French hieroglyphics numerically translated to in French francs. Now remember, there was no pocket calculators in 1978, so when I got the bill, I took out my little notebook, and converted the francs to dollars by hand, and the total was about $16. I thought this was wrong, as how could four coffees be so expensive. Finally, I sheepishly, asked the waiter to explain the bill, and with a few big body and hand gestures, and a combination of French and broken English, he pointed to four cups of coffee and six croissants.
Flabbergasted and sticker shocked, I paid the bill and realized we blew our lunch budget for the day, so instead of having lunch at a Parisian bistro, all we could afford was fromage and jambon on baguette, which in the end, was perfect and delicious.
So, the lesson to be learned here is that not only is there no such thing as a free lunch, there’s no such thing as a free croissant at Café de Flore.
Here are more links to my stories on Travel Awaits
3 Must-Visit Food Shop Streets In Paris https://www.travelawaits.com/2547284/Must-Visit-Food-Shop-Streets-In-Paris/?pv=search
How To Spend A Weekend In Beautiful Avignon, France
https://www.travelawaits.com/2495898/How-To-Spend-A-Weekend-In-Avignon-France/?pv=related_list
5 Superb Pastry Chefs And Chocolatiers In Paris https://www.travelawaits.com/2494578/best-pasty-chefs-and-chocolatiers-in-paris/?pv=related_list
Please remember to order a copy of Paris on Air for the June 2020 Eye Prefer Paris Book Club. Click link below.
https://theearfultower.com/2020/04/22/paris-on-air-now-available-in-the-us/https://theearfultower.com/2020/04/22/paris-on-air-now-available-in-the-us/
Please watch my latest A Bite of Paris video, where I make and bake a Dark, Chocolate, Chestnut Cake.
Click here to watch the video.
