a lot of time in cafés. In part because I am lazy, directionless, an artist/writer wannabe, but also in part because I can use their toilet facilities. OK, sorry…..it’s because I feel truly at home in the anonymity of café society. It is here that I can space out, my tangled mind unravels and puts its feet up. And as I become démêlé, I experience a real Buddhist fusion with the world that lasts until I pay the bill.

For me, the ideal café should be light and spacious. Plenty of mirrors and woodwork and probably a plant or two. The quality of the coffee, whilst important, is not high up my list of priorities. The single espresso or allongé is the price I pay to disappear from the world, to read the newspaper and to let my crazy ideas find some sort of form.

Here, I hope to introduce you to some of my favourite endroits and to make a few pointed observations along the way.

Here, for example, is the Cyrano, just off Place de Clichy. It is a favourite haunt with the hoards of students who go to the early morning cinema next door. Le Cyrano opens too late for me, at 9.30am-ish, but the coffee (Lavazza) is good, and the owner (who appears in the video below) engaging.

It is NOT ideal. The tables are too small and the overall feeling is one of intimacy (good) and congestion (bad). It’s also a little on the dark side in the morning (this photo was taken late afternoon) and cold in winter. So, I am demanding.

http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoafJs_J.html