Paris has a great cafe culture. There are Starbucks, but the local shops obviously have the advantage of ambiance and are preferred. Most cafes are small with ample outside seating. I did not see many folks writing or reading, but we are probably are in more of the tourist areas where the patrons intend to have an expresso and watch the locals walk by. We took a bus tour this morning and drove by what the guide described as the “intellectual district” located near the Sorbonne. The driver just kept going.
One thing I have noticed is that the atmosphere of the cafes is very relaxed. There is no time limit or pressure to finish your coffee and free up a table. I have yet to figure out how to get the attention of a server so we can pay and leave. They don’t take your card here. They provide your bill and after you have time to examine it, they return with a mobile reader. I don’t need a lot of time to review a bill written in a language I don’t understand, but I have figured out that charges are printed with apostrophes and not decimal points. I just want to offer my card so we can move on.
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