There is a crucial deficiency in French cuisine. Coffee does not come in decent quantities.
But espresso has more caffeine than coffee.
False, or at best, it depends. You need to consider the strength of the brew and quantity consumed. Typical estimates put one strong brew at over two shots of espresso.
But French coffee is stronger.
At one point in time, this could have been true. However, in general, it is rather easy to find or brew strong coffee in the US. In fact, most coffee connoisseurs are probably used to the strongest of French coffees and call them “mild”.
But espresso is more refined.
You get too much sleep.
There is a bias. A former employer of mine was a coffee shop. One of the owners used to take a large coffee cup, load it with six espresso shots, and top it off with some Columbian – every morning.
It is now difficult to call one shot of espresso “strong”.
But, there is one place for a good, strong, American cup of coffee.
That place is Starbucks.
But going to Starbucks in France feels as traitorous as McDonalds or Disney or the Hard Rock. It’s nice to live in a foreign country with foreign things. Even the “American” places here feel different – they are unique outposts in the frontier. The chains are zebra mussels, attaching to everything, staking a claim, and removing diversity in the ecosystem.
Yet… if I can get a good sized cup of coffee…
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Filler
I am trying to keep this blog to a regular weekend affair, preferably Saturdays. This week was a bit busy and lack of forward thinking brings you only a tiny bit of advice.
When selecting random cafe's to sit down for a drink, make sure they do not perform magic for you. It can be awkward.
When selecting random cafe's to sit down for a drink, make sure they do not perform magic for you. It can be awkward.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Getting Internet
One of the pleasant surprises about living in France is that having Internet, TV, and a fixed line is relatively cheap. For 29.90€ you have all three. However, like all things, there is a process.
Normally, most people have a place with a fixed telephone line already working. If this is the case, you can easily obtain its number by dialing 0123456789. Of course, picking up the line in my apartment yielded silence. The nothingness tells you there is no attached line. This, being outside the normal procedure is, as they say, difficult.
There is something called the Freebox from a company called Free that everyone seems to love. Love so much in fact that when I asked about any other company, it was with shock and horror that anyone could conceive of going someplace else. I contact them first.
The sign-up is online. First, France Telecom will come and install the line, next you get the box, and then you get internet.
Step one was a bit rough.
Allegedly, your provider calls France Telecom and then France Telecom comes to your place to install a line. France Telecom should call you, make an appointment, and show up. Free allegedly starts this process.
Only Free did not start the process. So, I e-mail them. They respond, “be patient.” I am patient. After two weeks I e-mail them again, “we don’t have information on your file.”
New lesson: in France, patience is not a virtue.
If someone should give you something, you should harass them until they give it to you. There is a culture in certain companies to “just make the customer go away”. Going away with the good or service you provide is one way of achieving this. However, there are other means to have the customer go away.
No customer, no problem.
So I went away, and tried somewhere else.
SFR is next on my list. They give me the run down of the whole process. Normally, if you have a phone, everything takes two weeks. The phrase “normally, if you have a phone line” worries me. However, they actually do what they say they will do, call France Telecom. Everything from the SFR side works great. If you move here, go to these guys first.
So now I venture into territory occupied by a state owned agency.
The first appointment was made for 10AM one Friday. After waiting for an hour, work became a much better use of my time. At 5PM, the technician calls.
“I didn’t have your front door code.”
Not being fully integrated into French culture, I do not slight the man. Clearly, just because this information was provided to France Telecom, and that everyone in the free world has my front door code, is no reason for this man to have had it.
Game on.
The next appointment is made for 8AM. The workday starts at about 9:30AM at my office. Thus, this gives him enough time to blow me off, and me enough time to legitimately wait before I head to work.
He calls at 10AM.
“Where are you?”
“At work.”
“I’m here.”
“8AM was 2 hours ago.”
“Ok, can we reschedule?”
So we reschedule. You have to have France Telecom, so my thought is to see how many appointments this will take. Two days later, he shows up, even calling me ahead of time to say he is coming. Now this blog comes from the comfort of my own apartment.
Total time from start to internet, 1 month and 3 weeks.
Normally, most people have a place with a fixed telephone line already working. If this is the case, you can easily obtain its number by dialing 0123456789. Of course, picking up the line in my apartment yielded silence. The nothingness tells you there is no attached line. This, being outside the normal procedure is, as they say, difficult.
There is something called the Freebox from a company called Free that everyone seems to love. Love so much in fact that when I asked about any other company, it was with shock and horror that anyone could conceive of going someplace else. I contact them first.
The sign-up is online. First, France Telecom will come and install the line, next you get the box, and then you get internet.
Step one was a bit rough.
Allegedly, your provider calls France Telecom and then France Telecom comes to your place to install a line. France Telecom should call you, make an appointment, and show up. Free allegedly starts this process.
Only Free did not start the process. So, I e-mail them. They respond, “be patient.” I am patient. After two weeks I e-mail them again, “we don’t have information on your file.”
New lesson: in France, patience is not a virtue.
If someone should give you something, you should harass them until they give it to you. There is a culture in certain companies to “just make the customer go away”. Going away with the good or service you provide is one way of achieving this. However, there are other means to have the customer go away.
No customer, no problem.
So I went away, and tried somewhere else.
SFR is next on my list. They give me the run down of the whole process. Normally, if you have a phone, everything takes two weeks. The phrase “normally, if you have a phone line” worries me. However, they actually do what they say they will do, call France Telecom. Everything from the SFR side works great. If you move here, go to these guys first.
So now I venture into territory occupied by a state owned agency.
The first appointment was made for 10AM one Friday. After waiting for an hour, work became a much better use of my time. At 5PM, the technician calls.
“I didn’t have your front door code.”
Not being fully integrated into French culture, I do not slight the man. Clearly, just because this information was provided to France Telecom, and that everyone in the free world has my front door code, is no reason for this man to have had it.
Game on.
The next appointment is made for 8AM. The workday starts at about 9:30AM at my office. Thus, this gives him enough time to blow me off, and me enough time to legitimately wait before I head to work.
He calls at 10AM.
“Where are you?”
“At work.”
“I’m here.”
“8AM was 2 hours ago.”
“Ok, can we reschedule?”
So we reschedule. You have to have France Telecom, so my thought is to see how many appointments this will take. Two days later, he shows up, even calling me ahead of time to say he is coming. Now this blog comes from the comfort of my own apartment.
Total time from start to internet, 1 month and 3 weeks.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
The Zoology of the Order Beggar
Paris hosts many species of beggar under its canopy. Take the traveling metro minstrels. This fine breed plays music for you while you cruise on the underground river of railway. My personal favorite is the travelling Karaoke star, who croons hits from the 60’s. The rare but remarkable Kurt Cobain puppeteer deserves a mention as well. What it lacks in musical talent, it makes up for in indecency.
During your commute, you often find the stump speech giver. This species runs on a train, provides some oratory, and then ask for a donation for the cause. These former politicians and Enron executives have molted and are now righting society from the first floor.
There are the furry frienders that lure your sympathy with kittens, puppies, cats, and dogs. The distant cousins, the Stephen King creepies, try to lure you with a collection distressing trinkets. Doubts about this species survival are numerous.
Finally, we have the fishers. This species places a cup on a string tied to a stick. Each time a potential centime comes near, instead of luring it to their cup, they bring the cup to it. What fascinatingly evolved strategy!
The once flourishing pickpocket has now been nearly hunted to extinction. While this is good news indeed, there is always the danger of it adapting and re-emerging as a threat to the entire Paris ecosystem, especially the foreign tourist. Constant vigilance around the most precious habitats must be maintained.
While some may find the genus beggar distasteful, they do have a certain charm to others. Some beggars may have obnoxious adaptations, akin to skunks or slugs, but others have found ways to peacefully coexist with their hosts. Certainly, as long as the beggars maintain this harmony with their environment, they will endure.
During your commute, you often find the stump speech giver. This species runs on a train, provides some oratory, and then ask for a donation for the cause. These former politicians and Enron executives have molted and are now righting society from the first floor.
There are the furry frienders that lure your sympathy with kittens, puppies, cats, and dogs. The distant cousins, the Stephen King creepies, try to lure you with a collection distressing trinkets. Doubts about this species survival are numerous.
Finally, we have the fishers. This species places a cup on a string tied to a stick. Each time a potential centime comes near, instead of luring it to their cup, they bring the cup to it. What fascinatingly evolved strategy!
The once flourishing pickpocket has now been nearly hunted to extinction. While this is good news indeed, there is always the danger of it adapting and re-emerging as a threat to the entire Paris ecosystem, especially the foreign tourist. Constant vigilance around the most precious habitats must be maintained.
While some may find the genus beggar distasteful, they do have a certain charm to others. Some beggars may have obnoxious adaptations, akin to skunks or slugs, but others have found ways to peacefully coexist with their hosts. Certainly, as long as the beggars maintain this harmony with their environment, they will endure.
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