Coffee – Page 9 – It's all about the coffee

Fraternité Café

Our first full day and first coffees in Paris ! We got into Paris really late last night due to some cancellations and delays with the EuroStar. When we got into Paris we went straight to the hotel and got some sleep. Due to the way Eurostar costs work, a trip in on Saturday morning was way more expensive than getting in late on Friday night. As I’d already booked the apartment to start of Saturday, we just stayed in a hotel close to Gare du Nord station.

Gare do Nord is probably in the shittiest part of central Paris. It has two major train stations right next to each other, Gare du Nord and Gare du Est (North and East station). Something about major rail stations globally, they always seem to be in seedy locations. Not unlike staying right next to Central in Sydney. There are lots of cheap hotels and hostels here, but the one we had was really nice. We were right on the top floor, basically an attic conversion.

After checking out in the late morning we headed across the road to the nearest Boulangerie to get something for breakfast. It was probably the crappiest bakery in the crappiest are of Paris but the croissants were still excellent. I’ve had way worse coffees here in Paris, at least this one was hand made and not just a button push machinejobbie. I’ll give it a 6/10

My bother and sister in law were in Paris this week and we caught up with them before they had to get their train to Brussels for their flight home to Australia.

Julie and Sharon had a look in Diptyque which is apparently a famous candle shop. I guess selling lumps of nice smelly wax you essentially set on fire for €65 each they would want to be pretty well known and very good. They did have a nice chair for bored husbands to sit on…

Shane and Julie showed us a Boulangerie they discovered which sell the best croissants in Paris, as judged this year. They are only one euro and they are spectacular.

We had a wander through the Pantheon where you can see tombs of some of the French greats such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Jean Moulin, Louis Braille and Marie Curie, Alexandre Dumas. Quite often not the entire body is kept here. There are urns with hearts and other body parts buried elsewhere. A little odd

We had lunch at a little cafe opposite the Luxembourg gardens. I had one of the most delicious club sandwiches I’d ever had. Emma had a gigantic salad and Sharon had a croque monsieur. Shane and Julie shared a sandwich.

By this time I had to leave to get the keys to the apartment. It’s not the original one we booked, before we arrived a previous guest had an accident, caused a fire and the apartment was gutted. Maybe they bought one of those €65 candles……

This one was found at short notice. It’s Ok but small. At least it has a lift. Our accomodation last time in Paris was just amazing, unfortunately we will always compare to paris stays to that one.

After checking in, I headed back to the hotel we had overnight to pick up our luggage. Even though we decided to travel light the bags seem to have multiplied during the stay in London and navigating the metro with them (plus some of today’s shoe and bag shopping) was going to be difficult so an Uber Van was organised.

Headed out late for dinner, which is where I’m typing up most of this waiting for our meal at a Brasserie on Rue De Rome in the 8th only a few min walk down from our apartment. It’s 9.30pm at night but it’s as light at it in at 6pm in summer at home.

Some more pics from today

Travel

Working towards the Globe

Whilst I was at work (and sampling a few coffees) Sharon and Emma were doing a little more sightseeing around London. Their plan had been to check out the Churchill War Rooms (I’ve done this twice already – they are awesome) however the three hour queue for entry killed that idea.

Instead they headed over to the Victoria and Albert museum. Before heading in for a look around the coffee and cake there was sampled, with reports that it was quite good. The cake certainly looks alright !

after a good look around here they had lunch in the grounds of St Paul’s. A truly wonderful spot for lunch on a warm London summer’s day

At 5pm we all headed down to the Globe Theatre for a evening showing of Hamlet. Stopped for some Italian food along the way at Zizzi

Some excellent advice from Josh back at home we got great seats. More info on which seats to pick below

Even if you are not a Shakespeare fan, from a historical perspective its worth a visit. In terms of tickets, for London theatre its reasonably priced, you can get seats for around £30 (way cheaper if you want to stand in the pit in front of the stage, only £5). Whilst the building is a modern construction, its as close to the original as modern safety and fire codes will allow. Its not on it original site where it was in the 16th century, but its very close. The original site is only a few hundred meters away and its worth walking around the corner to look at it.

One of the most interesting facts about the theatre is that its the only building in central London thats allowed to have a thatched roof (they learnt a lot after 1666). Lots more info on it over at good ol’ wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_Globe

In my opinion the best value seats are in the lower gallery. There are a handful of cheaper seats (slight view obstruction) but they have no one in front of you so there is stacks of leg room and no on behind you so you can lean up against the wall. Also very close to the exit.

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After Dinner we walked back to the apartment and took some photos. Glorious warm night to be walking along the river

Travel

Double Coffee and Gherkin

This mornings coffee on the way to the office was from the notes chain, which have a coffee shop on the ground floor of the Gherkin. Below is a picture from the inside looking out as well as a selfie with the Gherkin ” A Gherkie”. The coffee was surprisingly good, at least a 7.5/10

It’s possible that it’s because it was my first morning coffee after a few pints last night that made it so good, rather than the quality of the coffee itself. Ones own perception of these things is impacted by many factors….

I had to pop out to Houndsditch Post Office again today to post home the second tsunami of books. I’m really thinking I should buy shares in Royal Mail as this is costing a right royal fortune in postage.

On the way back I passed secret frog coffee and the temptation was too great to resist. This coffee is great a decent 8/10. They sell coffee in cup sizes equal to the sizes at home for a similar price. This one was £2.85. I’ve been paying that or £3 for what would be a small or below small at home

On my way back I ran into Wilson and Rikesh from the office who got their coffee at “Association” coffee, right behind the Gherkin. This is another great coffee place that is rated highly by the Australian contingent in the office.

And of course since it was behind the Gherkin, another opportunity to provide the Obligatory Daily Gherkin pic.

Lunch was from the Japanese Canteen behind the Gherkin. This is right next door to “Association” coffee. This lunch spot is excellent and it’s extremely popular.

One more thing…

If you like my blog you will probably like my mate John’s blog. John and Perry are currently traveling through the USA and Canada. Here is the link

http://johnandperrystravels.blog

Travel

Pineapple Coffee

Coffee for me today was at a little Lebanese cafe restaurant early this morning where I took the opportunity to catch up with one of our software vendors whilst I was visiting the London office. The coffee was a real surprise, was way better than I expected, a decent 7.5/10

Later in the morning I acquainted myself with the Houndsditch Post Office. I’ll know the Royal Mail system quite well soon, as we bought a few more books than we expected and I’m posting a few home.

Whist I was in the office, Sharon and Emma did a bit more shopping in Bond St, bought some strawberries and ate them in Green Park, walked past Buckingham Palace, had lunch at Borough Market and then headed over to Pineapple Dance where Emma attended another dance lesson.

After work I had a beer with a few of the guys from the office in the Bell. Thankfully the Bell had re-opened after the car ran into it. Visiting the London office and not having a beer at the Bell just wouldn’t have been cricket. The Bell is a must.

Now that England are through to the next stage, it would seem most people here are just happy England made it further than Germany. Of course everyone still hopes to beat France, but they hasn’t stopped some of the World Cup jokes starting:

Q. What is the difference between Germany and a tea bag ?
A. Tea bags spend longer in the cup…

Walking back from the Bell, I managed to get a shot for the Obligatory Daily Gherkin.

I travelled down to Covent Garden, found Sharon and we had cocktails at a little drink wagon in the garden. Summer in London is just wonderful…..

When Emma had finished the lesson we had dinner at the Nag’s Head, another place we seem to visit yearly now.

And much to the amusement of my inner 13 year old, the trip back to the apartment involved a stint on the Piccadilly line

Oh, and one last thing. A funny comment I heard last night about the State of the UK. They are concerned they are turning into Australia. Makes sense when you consider some of the stats

Winning at Sport
Its a really hot summer
They have bush fires in the north
Concerns there could be a drought with water restrictions coming….

Travel

Broken Bell Coffee

I’m visiting our London office for a few days, so the amount of interesting things I’m posting about may decrease a little as most of my day will be consumed with work related items. However I did of course get out for my daily coffee which was had at the cafe in the bottom of the Gherkin so I’m able to combine the obligatory daily gherkin with the coffee report. Winning !

Whilst I was at work Sharon and Emma had breakfast then went up to Fortnum and Mason and Hatchard’s book shop. Emma spent a few hours at dance classes with Pineapple Dance in Covent Garden. Participating in a dance lesson here will likely be one of the highlights of her trip. Sharon popped into the Nag’s Head at Covent Garden for a G&T and when Emma had finished dancing went off to the M&M store and the Lego store.

Disaster has also struck here in London, the favourite watering hole of the office, “The Bell” had a car drive into it over the weekend and is out of action for a while. We paid them a visit over lunch and they are not sure when they will be trading again, its with the insurance company to work that out. We are all devastated, it’s just not the same with the Bell out of action.

After work we met up with my Cousin Kristy and her partner Mark for a fantastic dinner at Blanchette on Brick Lane. Fantastic French / North African fusion food.