Coffee Houses - part 1
Mark K December 24th, 2007
After spending time in France, I became fascinated with stories of writer’s, artists and philosophers, intellectuals and politicians spending time in their favorite coffee house, working for hours and days on their creations and “networking” with their fellow creative types long before that term was hatched.
Napoleon, Benjamin Franklin, and Voltaire all spent time at Le Precope, which claims to be the world’s first coffee house. I love the story that Napoleon, in the days before he gained fame and power, used to leave his hat as a deposit when he ran up a tab, with the promise of returning to pay later. I could imagine Napoleon, standing right where Heidi is, in his famous pose with his hand reaching into the opening of his jacket, pretending to pick up the tab - “No, Jacques, I insist. I’ve got this one!”
In more recent years Sartre and Simon de Beauvoir held court at the Tres Magot, a popular destination for tourists and locals to this day.
What really grabbed my attention was to hear that Hemingway had written The Sun Also Rises at the Brasserie Lipp across the street. I wasn’t so much impressed that he had written what many consider to be his finest novel, but that the management and wait staff had allowed him to linger there every day, taking up table space which he worked! I guess that I’m conflicted between the part of me that is a writer and the part of me that is a restaurateur, but I can’t imagine that he was ordering enough food and drink throughout the day and night to justify occupying a table that might be put to a more practical use by the establishment!
During my brief time in Paris and later in Limoux, I searched for the perfect coffee house, where I could at least spend an hour or so journaling - one with the appropriate ambiance and where I would feel comfortable lingering.
When I returned to California, it dawned on me that I know just such a place, and it’s my own favorite coffee house in my home town!
