The French like..... COFFEE

and so do I. I know, I know. I flew all the way to Paris to come up with that statement. However, I've been exposed to coffee so much that I too am now a coffee drinker. Sure, I've made a hefty investment in Starbucks buying countless frapps and hot chocolates, but I'm happy to note Paris converted me. I blame my fifth grade teacher for making me put off coffee for ten years. The french try to bring out that hot pot whenever they can. Much like that annoying pink bunny with the clapping instrument that runs on Energizer batteries, the french run all day on coffee. Typically, you'll have coffee and OJ for breakfast (with something small to eat), and coffee or tea with lunch, and then wine for dinner, and coffee after dessert. I think they must confuse coffee with water. Oh la la.

Espresso and I at le Grand Colbert

However, if you step into a cafe or restaurant and order a coffee, you won't be calling out "tall decaf cappuccino". There's a few things the coffee goer will need to know before dining like the french. If you ask for café, they will give you an espresso. You must say crème to receive something with milk. Finding a good, frothy cappuccino is rare. To achieve something close to this with some frothiness, ask for noisette. But if you're like me, you'll order coffee with lots of milk and bargain to take all your friends sugar packets and combine with yours (my coffees typically have four packets of sucre-so, yeah.... I'm the pink bunny leading all the other pink marching bunnies by the end of the day).