I’ve been out foraging for provisions on our first morning in Paris. I was ready to head back to the apartment when I realized I had forgotten to get coffee when I was in the supermarket. I had been out for quite awhile, so even though we were in Paris, I decided to go to a Starbucks. – Yep, that’s right, Starbucks. There was one just down the street on the corner.
Inside the Starbucks, there was a line, just like any Starbucks at home. But that was where the similarity ended. Quite a few of the drinks on the menu board didn’t have the same names as the ones I’m familiar with. I just wanted a big, regular coffee, but I didn’t see anything on the board that looked like that. Here’s what was on the board:
Espresso Macchiato Espresso Con Panna Espresso Brun Espresso Blond
Ristretto Bianco Caffè Latté Cappuccino Caffè Mocha
Mocha Blanc Caramel Macchiato Caffè Americano Café de la semaine
It was quickly dawning on me that this was going to be way more difficult than I had anticipated. There’s nothing simple at Starbucks, anyway. They ask you all kinds of questions. There are options for everything. Everything has a special name. My only chance was to observe everything everyone else did as carefully as I could, so that maybe by the time it was my turn, I’d have something coherent to say.
I’ve seen non-english-speaking foreigners struggling at Starbucks back home lots of times. Even if they know the basics, Starbucks words aren’t english words – they’re made-up Starbucks words. (Like the Starbucks word, “tall”, which means “regular size” in normal english). Well, I guess it’s my turn to be the foreigner now. The next thing I knew, I was at the front of the line…
“Bonjour monsieur!”
“Bonjour Madame”, I said. Then I ordered a caffé latté. OK, I know… that wasn’t what I really wanted, but I figured a caffé latté would be pretty close to the ones at home, so I decided to play it safe. Besides, I knew that my beautiful and demure Better Half would go for a latté.
The girl behind the counter asked me a few questions, and then asked, “Votre nom?” She wanted to know my name so she could write it on the cup. That way they could call me when my order was ready.
I told her my name, but I guess there aren’t too many “Don’s” in Paris, at least the way I pronounce it. We had to go back and forth with that for awhile. Finally, she told me I’d be called when my caffé latté was ready. Whew. That was pretty rough. I went over to where other people were waiting for their orders.
I guess the guy making the drinks had never heard the name, “Don”, before, either, but fortunately for me, I was the only one still waiting when he called out something that sounded vaguely like my name.
When I got back to the apartment we were both ready to eat. We made toast, had some fruit, and shared the latté. Not much of a breakfast, but it tasted pretty darned good. Especially the toast.
We didn’t have the whole day planned out, but we did have a plan for the morning. Two items on our list of things we’d like to do were to visit one of the famous Paris department stores, and to have a macaron tasting contest. (The macaron contest was my idea).
Ladurée and Hermé
There are two macaron makers in Paris that are among the most well-known: Ladurée and Hermé. I thought it would be fun to get some macarons from each place, eat ‘em up, then decide which ones were the best. Pretty good idea, eh? (I thought so, too. I discovered later that I wasn‘t exactly the first one to have the idea, but I could live with that).
It turns out that two of Paris’ famous department stores, Au Printemps and Galleries Lafayette, are located right next to each other. And – there’s a Ladurée in Printemps, and a Hermé in Galleries Lafayette. We could take the Metro, (the subway), to the stores, hit the macaron places, take the Metro back, and be done, all in one shot. Perfect!
We found a Metro station close by and walked down the stairs. We bought a book of ten tickets, since we figured we’d used them, and because they’re cheaper that way. The tickets are little slips of paper. To get into the Metro, you put the ticket into a slot, from which it gets sucked, (quickly!), from your hand. It reappears at another slot where you grab it and go in.
We took the Metro from a stop close to the apartment, (Sentier), four quick stops down to a station, (Havre Caumartin), that empties out right at Printemps. The ride took maybe ten minutes. We got off the train and walked upstairs to street-level. We were standing right in front of Printemps.
Most of the big Paris department stores were built in the 19th century. All prices were negotiable. Parisian department stores were among the first to put old stuff on sale to make room for new stuff. They developed their own brands. They had seasonal promotions. They’re responsible for much of what makes up the way we shop today.
They were designed to be pleasant to be in, too, so people would want to go shopping just to go shopping. The architecture in some of the stores is over the top.
We crossed the street, went into Printemps, and looked around for a directory that might tell us how to find the Ladurée that’s somewhere inside. It was about that time that we got quite a shock.
To be continued…
See the Travel Notes, Paris, Montorgueil page for more detailed information about visiting Montorgueil.
Photo Credits: The featured image is “A Paris Starbucks” © Tea | Dreamstime.com
