France - Cafe Experiences (Special Edition 1 of 3)
Between November 22-29, I went for my first real international vacation to France. I stayed in two locations, Paris and Normandy. France has a lot to offer and I had limited time to try a handful of coffee shops (no pour overs). Therefore, this will be a sprint edition, where I will focus more on the overall experience rather than the actual coffee. One of the first things you will notice in Paris is that the overall density of the city is high. This is interesting, since the majority of the city is composed of mid-rise buildings. The way the city is designed allows you to walk to a variety of restaurants and cafes within minutes. I stayed in the Montematre neighborhood, this area felt like a 50/50 mix between touristy and local. Located 20-25 minute walk from the Louvre, the neighborhood offered a good mix of experiences, depending what are you are seeking. I tried four places during this trip: 1) The Hardware Sociétés; 2) Cuillier Abbesses; 3) KB CaféShop; 4) Boot Café.
The Hardware Sociétés
After researching cafes to visit in Paris, Hardware Sociétés had great reviews. Located extremely close to the Sacré-Cœur, we were concerned that it would be a tourist trap. Gladly, this was not the case. Yes, you will find tourists... but the place is a solid cafe with great food (see below for the pictures). At this location I had great coffee, a latte, and awesome food. A solid experience. As a note, no wifi is available.
Cuillier Abbesses
Cuillier is what you would consider a traditional coffee shop in the United States. I stopped twice at the Abbesses location, I had both a "wow" and a "meh" feeling for their coffee. I am still in disbelief that I took 0 pictures at this location, as this is the type of shop that I would sit down and read a book (Update: I found 3 pictures). Their menu is fairly simple and it includes pour over! (I didn't try it). Also, their website includes details about the source of the coffee! That always gets me excited. On my way to the airbnb I noticed the coffee shop, once entering the barista greeted me with a smile and offered me with a taste of the filtered coffee. Guess what, it was great! He mentioned that this coffee was their Ethiopian and I didn't hesitate to order it. My friend had an espresso, which ironically he didn't like (more on that in a little bit). The Ethiopia filter coffee was great, it is your typically Ethiopian flavor profile and it also taste very clean and not too unbalanced (which I'll describe as not being watery fruity). Now on the espresso, I noticed that in France espressos seem to be a bit more acidic (not really clear why). Now if you really sip it slowly and let it cool down a bit, their espresso "opened up" and I could get hints of cherry/chocolate. Pretty good in my view, although I'm still learning about espressos. The reason I said "meh" at the start of this post, I went to Cuillier for a second time and their filtered coffee was not to the same standard as the day before. If I ever go back to Paris, I will definitely stop back at Cuillier and have their filtered coffee (taste first) or pour over/chemex.
