French cafés serve some of the world's best coffee, but each of us has our own preferences and you have to know how to do it, or what to say or you may not get what you ordered.
* Café (kuh-fay) is plain coffee with nothing added, but is strong as it is brewed like espresso.
* Café au lait (kuh-fay oh-lay) is a popular French coffee style that has been popularized in America, as it's served in tres francais New Orleans at Café du Monde. In France, this is simply coffee with steamed milk, and it's almost always wonderful. You will sometimes get the coffee served in one pot or in the cup, and then a pitcher of steamed milk to pour in as you please.
* Café crème (kuh-fay khremm) is, as it sounds, coffee served in a large cup with hot cream.
* Café Décafféiné (kuh-fay day-kah-fay-uhn-ay) is decaffeinated coffee. You will still need to tell them you want milk (lait) or cream (crème) with your coffee.
* Café Noisette (kuh-fay nwah-zett) is espresso with a dash of cream in it. It is called "noisette," French for hazelnut, because of the rich, dark color of the coffee.
* Café Americain (kuh-fay uh-meyhr-uh-kan) is filtered coffee, similar to traditional American coffee.
* Café Léger (kuh-fay lay-zjay) is espresso with double the water.
We checked into cheap flights to Paris - we wanted to come and share these experiences with you both. We knew you'd be happy to have us squeeze into your petit apartment with you. Most of all, I wanted Murray to experience the Louvre with Ron. We gave it serious consideration and then couldn't get our heads around it. Why didn't we listen to Christine's invitation more seriously when she suggested it months ago? To drown my sorrows, I had a skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks instead.
ReplyDeleteSadly, sorrowfully, regretfully yours, Diane