If you are a wine lover and you love to travel as well then you should know about the opportunity to travel to France for some of the most prestigious wine tasting events in the world. Paris is famous for much more than its monuments and museums like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. The area is also known for producing some of the best wines in the entire world.

Since a wine merchant organized a famous wine tasting in Paris in 1976 the secret has been out. This wine tasting event consisted of nine tasters including eight of the top wine tasters in France. This was set up as a blind tasting so that the judges would not know the identity of the wine being tasted.

This inaugural event kicked off the popularity of wine tasting in Paris that we see today. Now you will find the events included in almost every tour that you may take it the city. There are a great deal of wine bars in the Paris area which have scheduled events. One of the almost comical comments I heard regarding why the French are such good wine tasters is that they are good spitters, but it is true that this is a desirable talent to have to avoid dribbling wine down your chin.

If you plan to sample the delicious French cuisine at any of the restaurants in the city, and I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t, great quality wine will be served. In Paris, wine is just another beverage and is a daily staple in the diet of most people in France as well as in other areas of Europe. Some of the wine bars in Paris that have scheduled wine tastings include Chateau, which offers economical wines, Willi’s which prides itself on having over 250 selections to choose from. There are many wine bars in Paris and you will have no problem finding one that will suit you needs. These establishments open early and stay open for the majority of the day and not only will you be able to drink there but you will be able to eat as well.

The experience of tasting wine in Paris is one not to be missed, if you have a chance to go to Europe make sure that you make time in your schedule to spend a couple of days in Paris to take advantage of the great wines available there. You can also visit some of the shops and bring home some of the wines that you will not find anywhere else.

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Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about wine and Wine Racks and Gifts at http://www.oldworldvineyard.com

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OK, I admit it … I’m a bit of a coffee evangelist, someone who loves the taste of good coffee. My background is that I’ve had coffee in many countries of the world, and my favourite is Italian coffee, made in an espresso machine. Luckily for me, there is a huge Italian population in Australia and many of us have become connoisseurs because of the wealth of fantastic cafes in Sydney, Melbourne and other locations.

My favourite type of coffee is a latte which is comprised of good strong Italian coffee, topped off by thick creamy hot milk and a bit of foam.

What’s that I hear you ask? “Have you ever been unhappy with a coffee?”

Yes, I’ve sent back lukewarm tasteless coffees in many cafes. This doesn’t mean I’m a coffee snob, it just means I like to have a bit of coffee in my coffee if you know what I mean

When I was visiting Paris, France recently I knew I’d need to find some good coffee. I’ve lived in Paris and visited many times, and the French are not known for their coffee. Or milk. My experiences on this trip brought back vivid memories of when I lived there … lots of cafes served coffee that tasted like tar, and the milk added was almost always UHT milk – milk which doesn’t need refrigerating, and which has a smell which is hard to describe.

So – the search was on! I arrived in Paris and found the closest internet café [what would we do without the internet? I shudder to think …]

I found a couple of potential cafes who SOUNDED good, so my first adventure was to head off and do the taste test.

=== Caffé Kimbo de Napoli – 5 Place du Ternes, 75017 Paris ===

One of my friends in Paris [Gabrielle] had spotted the name of this café from the bus on her way to work. It had an Italian name, so we held great hopes that it might turn out to be a little oasis amongst the other cafes in the area. We arranged to meet late one afternoon, and I quickly spotted the name of the café snuggled tightly between some lovely shops. I stepped inside the cute little café, with beautiful dark wooden walls, and was greeted by a delightful woman with a huge friendly smile who answered all our demanding questions.

“Do you have real Italian coffee??”

“Is it Arabica??”

“Is it strong??”

“Do you use fresh milk??”

“Have you ever heard of a latte??”

The lady in the café answered, “Yes!” to all our questions with the greatest of patience, and Gabrielle and I wriggled and squirmed like happy new puppies, in anticipation of having the first good strong Italian latte in Paris. The wait was worth it – the coffee was excellent! I highly recommend this café.

Taste: Strong Italian espresso made with a REAL Italian espresso machine. Milk : Fresh milk, steamed to perfection! Quality: Thick and creamy latte – decidedly delicious.

We drank way too many coffees in our first sitting, but we were so excited we were hooked on the flavour and had to keep savouring ‘just one more cup’.

A few days latter I decided to check out another possible cafe, on my adventure to find the best coffee in Paris, France.

=== Café Malongo – 50 rue St Andre des Arts, 75006 Paris ===

I found Cafe Malongo mentioned on the internet, so I took the metro to St Michel, walked along the gorgeous Rue Saint Andre des Arts and stepped inside Malongo’s wide glass doors. Wow! What a huge café! I was overwhelmed by the size of the café, and delighted by all the little sections where I could sit down and read the paper; some people had laptops plugged in, everyone was savouring their coffees in a great atmosphere, with easy-listening music in the background.

You can order coffee plus cakes or pastries, but no sandwiches or lunch-type food is available.

My latte was served in a long glass, the tray was wonderfully presented, and the staff efficient and very friendly.

Taste: Different coffee ground on the premises each day. I tried one, then asked for ‘strong’ for my next one.

Mlk : Fresh milk, steamed.

Quality: The milk didn’t have that thick creamy quality I adore, but it was good.

Was my adventure worthwhile? Absolutely! As I discover more places I enjoy, I will continue to write about them and share with you.

A bientot! See you soon!

Teena!

Author credit and article copyright information

Teena Hughes is an Australian who has lived in Paris and loves all things French. Teena’s friends roll their eyes when she speaks in a fake French accent like Pepe le Pew. Teena’s website Cafes at A-night-in-paris.com is a warm and entertaining place to visit, seen through the eyes of someone who loves Paris.

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French people love drinking and eating out. Paris overflows with bars, wine bars, cafés, bistros and restaurants. Tons of fun. But which and where is the oldest one?

Let’s begin by wandering down rue Mazarine from the Odéon square. Bingo? We almost immediately come on Le Procope, where a plaque affirms it is “the oldest café in the world”.

It opened in 1686, mainly to offer coffee. This beverage’s fashion had been recently imported from Austria – the Viennese got their caffeine zonks from the Turks during a lull in the Ottoman siege of their city ca. 1623.

Voltaire and… God

The Café Procope was an early favorite rendez-vous of actors from the Comédie Française – the national theatrical company, then situated nearby- and later, during the turbulent pre-Revolutionary mid-18th century, of Encylopaedists (such as Diderot and D’Alembert) and other non-conformist thinkers, who had – this was still during the reign of Louis XV – to be careful with what they spouted in public.

Voltaire recounts that one day, he and a host of like-minded philosophers wanted to discuss a very thorny issue around a cup of coffee at Le Procope: does God exist? They coded “God” into Monsieur Néant (“Mister Nothing) and the wrangling went on for several hours. At a nearby table sat a gentleman who had time to read his newspaper several times over. Then, out of patience, he stood up and came over to the philosophers.

“Excuse me, Messieurs, you have been discussing Monsieur Néant. Could you please relieve my curiosity and tell me who he is?” According to Voltaire, the answer was shot back with no delay: “Yes, of course! He is a police spy-DO YOU KNOW HIM?”

There is a problem with the Le Procope’s claim, however. The owner, Mr. Procope, born in Palermo under the name Procoppio dei Cotelli, had already worked as a waiter at another Parisian café before launching his own! The “first in the world”? Sorry… Unless we’re talking about the earliest still extant.

But then there are other candidates.

Treasures of Paris islands

Another site to visit is Ile St-Louis, an island on the river Seine, which was built basically between 1613 and 1700.

Our first find is Les Anysetiers du Roy (The King’s aniseed liqueur makers), a restaurant located at No. 61 rue St-Louis-en-l’Isle. Our second find is Le Franc-Pinot, a well-known jazz club located at No. 1 Quai de Bourbon.

Both are indeed Procope contemporaries, and have been serving eats and drinks since they were founded in the 17th century.

A thought nags the tavern researcher, however: none before the 17th century??? Impossible!!

Fifteenth century poet François Villon did indeed dedicate “tout aux tavernes et aux filles” (“everything to taverns and girls.”). And a listing of taverners dating from 1457 A.D. counts some 200 full-time professionals and another hundred occasionals.

A famous tavern of the time was the Pomme de Pin (Pinecone), on Ile de la Cité (the second island in the center of Paris). It survived until the mid-1800s when Paris Prefect Haussmann razed it to make more room for the Hôtel Dieu hospital adjacent to Notre Dame Cathedral (see: http://www.paris-eiffel-tower-news.com/paris-stories/paris- story-hotel-dieu-hospital-htm)

Remnants of the 19th Century

Hmm… Ancient Ile de la Cité looks a good place for more fieldwork.

Systematic research reveals that today’s taverns around Notre Dame all date from the 19th century period of Haussmann’s urban cleanup.

Ah, but wait. Let’s take a look down an authentically quaint sidestreet on Ile de la Cité, rue de la Colombe (The Dove street).

We come at No. 4 upon the Réserve de Quasimodo, a wineshop-cum-eatery located in the old building already described in my piece titled “What And Where Is The Oldest House in Paris?”(see: http://www.paris-eiffel-tower-news.com/ paris-stories/paris-story-oldest-house.htm )

The Réserve de Quasimodo pretty much ignores (although not scorning) the tourist hordes around nearby Notre Dame Cathedral. Noon and night it serves scrumptious and affordable traditional French fares, accompanied by vintner-supplied wines.

It offers regular evening supper shows enlivened by oral culture (“Old Paris Stories”, “Tales from Brittany”), magicians, a “pocket theater” group, etc. Prior to that, in 1950, it was bought by Austro-American illustrator Ludwig Bemelmens, best known for his cartoons in The New Yorker and his Madeline children’s album series.

A photo from 1869 proves the place was then a wine-bar and wineshop.

A Foiled Suicide

Skipping back a century-and-a-half from then, right around 1719, we come to a legend about Cartouche, whose hangout here was the St Nicolas Tavern, a predecessor of today’s Réserve de Quasimodo. Cartouche was the ring-leader of a pickpocket gang – that’s documented, since he was executed in 1721.

The legend: Cartouche and gang were “working” the popular and crowded Pont-Neuf bridge one day in 1719, when all of a sudden a well-dressed gentleman leapt up onto the Bridge’s parapet.

“Hang on, there, Sir,” Cartouche is said to have shouted, pulling the fellow back down from a clear suicide attempt. “What’s this all about?”

The gentleman‘s response:

“I’m an honest man, indeed an honorable man, and /sniff/ I owe several people much money that I’ll never be able to reimburse…The only honorable way out is to jump into the Seine.”

Cartouche: “Now, now, you just give me a list of your creditors and the sums due.” The “gentleman bandit” invited said creditors to the St Nicholas Tavern at No. 4 rue de la Colombe, wined and dined them abundantly, paid off the suicide candidate’s debts (obtaining receipts, of course) and ordered more and more wine. Then he pulled out his pocket watch, said “Sorry, gentlemen, I’ve got an appointment”, and disappeared. More librations ensued among the creditors, only too pleased to celebrate their unexpected windfall. When they staggered out onto rue de la Colombe, guess who was awaiting them. Yes, indeed: Cartouche’s gang, who quickly divested them of the debt reimbursements.

And The Winner Is….

The St. Nicholas Tavern itself pre-dates Le Procope by a wide margin.

The tavern got its name from the patron saint to whom local clergymen had erected a statue in replacement of an earlier pagan statue nicknamed (The Man with Doves).

The statue of St. Nicholas was torn down in 1792 during the French revolution. It used to be affixed above the door of No. 4 rue de la Colombe.

The tavern itself is attested here in… 1240.

We got our winner.

(article written in collaboration with Arthur Gillette)

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Paris-based Arthur Delves into this sort of historical fun by guiding personalized strolls to discover Paris. Phil Chavanne is the Senior Editor of Paris Eiffel Tower News, a guide offering scores of helpful tips on Paris hotels, restaurants, monuments,and much more. Prepare your next trip to Paris at http://www.paris-eiffel-tower-news.com

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