Paris and the Tour the France

Sunday morning walk..Mr R and I wander the streets of Paris, in search for good coffee and a bit of shade in this unusually hot summer day.
We walked from my favorite Swedish Institute in the Marais, to Colette on rue St. Honore. We finally stopped for a decent espresso at Le Pain Quotidien (Mr. R was looking for a Pavlova, me just a coffee).

Finally we headed back, past Place Vendome towards the Tuileries gardens, before we realized we were in the middle of a mad yellow crowd. Le Tour was arriving in Paris!
People were everywhere, on the street, on the terraces of hotels, looking out the windows and climbing on the gates of the gardens.

I just stretched my arms and let the camera take a glimpse..

Back in Rome- back at home

And I am enjoying it!
I got back from Paris a few days ago and magically the sun has appeared.

The horrible news about the Tiber river overflowing seems to be obsolete now, that the sun is out and the sky is blue.

These days I am making it a point to walk to work, this way I will re-learn my ways around and enjoy fully the beautiful light of Rome. Not that I forgot my route, but maybe I missed a shop opening, or a new gallery display or the new interior decoration of a bar.

Mostly, I am drinking coffee, cappuccino and marocchinos on a daily basis. I am going back to my fav spots and asking for my solito..in fact, I don't even need to ask, I just go in, stand by the counter and smile. The hot foamy perfect drink comes without saying.

Coffee rant

I was reading the NYT and saw this brilliant post by Christoph Niemann about coffee.
I love his graphics and the way he describes his conflictual relationship with the dark beverage.
Coffee to me is a staple, sometimes I think that I drink it because I have been given the possibility of drinking the best coffee in the world for my whole life, and I cannot give up this privilege. In the end, so many people are deprived of this pleasure, it would not feel right to give it up.

And then I moved to Paris.. and I had to give up the idea of good caffeine.
The coffee here is just simply bad, and overpriced. People do not seem to get the point of making a short, creamy coffee. Instead they prefer a long, watery drink that is normally between 1 and 3 Euro. Outrage! Maybe this is the reason Parisian cafes are failing to fill up with clients(at least this is what appeared on a New York Times article not too long ago).

I laugh every time my parents come visit, we go out to a restaurant or to a cafe' and my dad stands near the counter while we wait for our coffee. Not only he keeps an eye on the person making the coffee but he keeps repeating "tres serre' tres serre'" hoping that that will make a difference on the quality of the drink.

Finally, we have a Gaggia coffee machine here in the apartment. The same one we have in Rome.
I had my normal coffee brough in from Italy, I put all my love in the making..but everymorning I have a disappointment. What can I do? Turn to tea for the joy of Mr. R?