What does a girl have to do to get a decent cup of coffee in Paris?

For those of you who associate the term "French" and "Parisian" with all things sophisticated, refined, and delicious, you're in for a shock: the coffee in Paris is terrible.

Don't let those little cups of espresso that you order in quaint corner cafés fool you - close your eyes, forget you're in the City of Light and romance, take a sip, and admit it. It tastes bad.

And it's not just me and my friends who think so: the New York Times magazine wrote on article on that very subject. Luckily, this article also provides suggestions for where one can in fact find a good cup of coffee (so the title of this blog post isn't as provocative as it might have seemed at first glance). Our main man David Lebovitz also weighed in on the issue, so we decided to check out La Caféothèque (metro stop: Pont Marie).

Upon entering La Caféothèque, our nostrils were met with a scent that we hadn't smelled since we left the states: freshly roasted coffee beans. We wandered to the back of the place, and sat near the coffee bar, and took in the scene. Eclectic chairs and stools. Patrons sitting in groups of two and three, chatting in a variety of languages. Names of the beans' countries of origin on the walls. A shelf well-stocked with books. A piano waiting to be played. Frank Sinatra playing in the background.

We ordered: filter coffees for my friends, a cappucino for me. The fact that each was accompanied by a square of dark chocolate didn't hurt...

Note: When I say "we" I mean two fellow CUPA students who go to Reed College in Portland Oregon - a city with quite the taste for java. So you don't just have to take my word for it - these two coffee conoisseurs (one of them a barista) put their seal of approval (along with mine, for what it's worth!) on La Caféothèque!

As delicious as it was beautiful!

One of my friends had brought along some of her own whole coffee beans from the states, which La Caféothèque was kind enough to grind for her (I told you these friends were quite the coffee connoisseurs!). Plus we learned a new verb: moudre = to grind.

I savored my cup down to the last rich, frothy drop...with classes starting soon and the weather getting colder, you can be sure we'll be back!