Cafes on the Left Bank?

Karen,

Waaaaaay back in December, you mentioned the Vavin Cafe and how much you enjoy it. May I ask what kind of menu they usually have and how far of a walk it might be from rue de Seine and rue Jacques Callot? Sounds like a great place to start one's day!

Jonathan

It is cramped, except on a Sunday morning when it is actually less crowded then the others and the views of the beautiful Art Deco and Belle Epoque buildings across the street (some of my favorites) are worth the visit.

If I'm not mistaken that is the one one on the corner that is very cramped for space and seems as if the tables only extend two or three deep from the curb.I much prefer the cafés on the Blvd St. Germain that have real depth and are much more relaxing no matter what brand ofmice cream.

Jean: It's mutual. St. Germain is on his way over. Why not you? Ursula is off to Egypt but we can find a guest room and there are SO MANY hotel specials!

I want to be there RIGHT NOW!

It must be. I know they serve Berthillon ice cream, and, on a Sunday morning when the weather is nice it really is a good place to sit and have a coffee without a crowd.

Ursula,

I think it's the Mabillon.

Well, there is the famous La Rhumerie at 166, Blvd. Saint-Germain. Not sure that's the one you're thinking of though, Jean. And then, personally, I don't like it anymore, since it had been totally renovated.

Anyway, can't think of anything better right now than hot tea with some rhum.

http://www.larhumerie.fr/index.htm

Well, maybe you're thinking of Le Mabillon right next door, non? A touch too busy for my personal taste though.

I can't remember the name, but there's a nice café across the boulevard from the Madison--off to the right of the church and perhaps half a block down. It features Berthillon ice cream, which is a good reason to go there on a warm afternoon.

Karen,
I am likely to become real jealous, but then, I will be laying in the warm Egyptian sun in only three days.

It's ice cold here in Switzerland and we've got some snow. But the sun is out, at least that.

I'm currently sitting in the VAVIN cafe -- 18 rue Vavin -- 75006
Using their FREE WiFi connect and just ate their fresh green bean salad with Foie Gras. It's made in-house!

For 11.30 Euros, I'm in heaven.

This cafe is a home away from home for me -- ONLY closed Sunday nights!

While La Rotonde will always be special to me, huge disappointment this time at breakfast hour.

They used to serve freshly squeezed orange juice. Only one reason, I loved to go there.
Now, the oj comes out of a bottle or a tetra brick box. Yuck! The price is the same, bien sur. 8.80E for la formule française.

Gabrielle, I'll be thinking of you! I've heard that the paperwork bureaucracy can be so difficult in all of the books I read. I guess it's true. Good luck, maybe you'll get someone nice. Remember that part in "Almost French" where she changed the whole way she was talking to the lady behind the desk and was able to change her mind? If not, maybe you should go re-read that part and try it! Good luck!

Teresa, thanks for checking on me, and this should give you an idea how my transition has been: I'm off to the Prefecture de Police today because they're sayin I can't get a carte de sejour with my visa, even though I did all the paperwork correctly!! So I can expect to be in administrative hell all day. Better get a good breakfast!

Apart from that, it's been fine I'm lucky to have some very good friends here who are helping me out. I miss my cats and can't get them shipped until this is all sorted out, but Paris is beautiful, so....

Check back with me tonight and see if I'm still able to talk or so staggered by French bureaucracy that I've crawled into a bottle of Veuve

I almost feel like I have a personal responsibility to make it better.

Notice how concerned St.G. gets when it gets close to home.

Aha, so it is not east of Blvd. St. Michel.

Gabrielle, you made me chuckle with your comment..... "so what she said." Your new little hangout sounds wonderful. A place in Paris to hang out with a good book and no one to bother you..... I'm so envious! I'd love to hear more about how you are doing and how the transition has been. What have your days been like lately? I have to live vicariously through you!

Gabrielle, now I know what you are talking about! First of all the rue Gregoire Delatour, between the blvd St. Germain is somthing else. I think it has maybe 10 of the lowest mriced restaurants in Paris. Many of them have the owner hawking his place an tring to drag cusomers in. Apart from thanm the restaurants itself are not that bad. I never have been in the bar, but I do not think one bar (the Old Navy, but I never noticed the name, and never went in.) doe not make a whole blvd. There are seveal nice cafes there. I would not judge the area by that.

BP Chuck

Travelgirl, Teresa put it much more eloquently than I did about cafes in other arrondissements. So, what she said!

And Chuck, Old Navy is between rue de Buci and rue St. Gregoire de Tours. I think--could be just before Rue de Seine. But not far from Deux Magots (same side) and maybe I'm judging it harshly based on the one time I was there. Will pop by another day and see what I find.

Right now, I'm loving a little place up near the Lamarck metro, Le Refuge. Nice little spot with basically only foot traffic passing by and good prices. It's the perfect place for hiding out with a book. Absolutely no one to see or see you

And tomorrow I'm heading for the 12th to do a hotel review and I'm looking forward to finding a good local place or 2 as well. Will let you know what I find.

Cheers!
Gabrielle

Why do assume it (the Bar) is east of Blvd. St. Michel? I don't recognize it in my neighborhood. Are you suggesting the boulevard goes downhill as you walk east?

This year, I stayed on the Left Bank and the Right Bank, both very different, but both wonderful in different ways. I love every arrondisment for a different reason. Travelgirl, just be sure you explore it all. I love the grand boulevards and I love the little smaller streets. I hung out at the famous cafes and loved them for what they offered, but I also had just as much fun exploring all of the little streets of the Marais. I really enjoy just walking, without a plan, and seeing what I can find. We ate at some great restaurants, and hung out at some great cafes, that we just found by walking around.

I love the way Paris is set up with the different arrondisements, and how when you say "the 3rd" you know what to expect (after you have spent some time there). I think I have now spent time in every single arrondisement and really appreciate their differences. In Sarah Turnbull's book, "Almost French" she talks about why she loves the 2nd and the Marais areas, which are all of the same reasons I enjoy them. We stayed in the 3rd, in the Marais, on one trip this year, and loved walking from our place to the 1st and 2nd, and loved exploring all three districts.

This last trip, we stayed in the 6th and loved that area too! We would walk to the 5th and 14th. It didn't even take that long to walk from the 6th to the 1st! One day we walked from the 6th to the Louvre too, so it's just fun to walk, walk, walk, and see what you can find.

I loved L'Avenue and I loved Grizzlies.... both in entirely different types of neighborhoods, completely different atmospheres, and people, but that's what I enjoy.... I like the differences.

Gabrielle, I am not familiar with the "Old Navy Bar" on the Blvd St. Germain (I presume it is east of the Blvd St Michel), However you may be correct in saying that the customers are the one that made the place look seedy. I think it is the customers who make a bar or bistro or whater look good or seedy.

BP Chuck

Actually, let me add that the Old Navy Bar on St-Germain is definitely seedy. Or maybe that was just the customers the last time I was there, but they seemed like regulars, so...

OK, seedy was the wrong word to use. Perhaps too ... superficial. I'm just not really a grand boulevards person. I prefer, as you mentioned, the Contrascarpe and smaller streets. Which some people might consider seedy Oh well, different courses...

Anyway, travelgirl, I vote you get over to the right bank. That's my fave part of town The Marais (which I know a lot of people would consider seedy, the Bastille, rue Oberkampf, the 9th, Montmartre, the 19th. Now you're talking