1. Decaf - is it readily available at cafes in France & Italy?<BR><BR>2. Lets hope there are no Starbucks, but is takeout coffee easy to get in those countries also?

No and no........

l. Ask for 'hag' (named for the man that<BR>first figured out how to decaffinate)<BR><BR>2. Oh yeah, there are some; yes, but<BR>you have to work for it!

John, in 5 weeks in Italy we didn't see anyone have takeout coffee, nor did any bars/cafes seem to have takeout cups. Most Italians spend about 1 min on downing their lukewarm coffee and then they're gone, so no need for takeout for them!<BR>Kay

Decaf is readily available at cafes in France, I order it quite often. Some cafes don't have it, but it's the exception rather than the norm.<BR><BR>On the other hand, the answer to your second question is no. Takeout coffee is pretty much unheard of

Thanks everyone, and how do you order a decaf in French?

Answer: very carefully. <BR><BR>No matter how many different ways I tried to explain it, in both French and English, I still had waiters routinely assure me that I was getting decaf and, once it arrived, I was 100% sure it was "leaded." They just don't believe you can tell the difference and they just don't believe that caffeine is a problem.<BR><BR>You can try "cafe sans caffeine," "pas de caffeine, s'il vous plait," etc. and I've even talked to a waiter who spoke excellent English about drug interactions that would be very dangerous for me -- and he PROMISED me he knew what Americans wanted and needed, understood about the doctor, and STILL brought me heavily-leaded caffeinated coffee.<BR><BR>My advice? If you can stand herbal teas, ask for "infusions" in France instead of decaf. Otherwise, try to manage without unless it wouldn't be a big problem for you to be slipped a dose of caffeine.

O ye of little faith!<BR><BR>Ask for 'cafe Hagg' - the spelling may<BR>be off but it gets you decaff!<BR><BR>

Any cafe that has decaf cafe in France has it on the menu (or drink card which will be posted near the door on the window), you don't have to make up a phrase describing it. There is a French word for that exact adjective (decaffeinated) which is d&eacute;caf&eacute;in&eacute; (decafeine without accents which seem to get mess up on here) which is what you should correctly us. They like to drop endings a lot in France, so this is often just called "d&eacute;ca". If there is doubt, you should be able to point to that on the menu (carte). It won't be any good, probably, I think it's usually instant.<BR><BR>There are places with takeout coffee in Paris. I imagine McDonald's for one, as you can take out anything there (and, as a matter of fact, their coffee is pretty good for Americans as it is a weak espresso which is more like very strong American coffee, I don't know if they have decaf, though). Small chain patisseries (places that sell croissants, pain au chocolat, etc) have takeout coffee, also. Some of these sell takeout sandwiches and other stuff like that.

I like BIG cups of coffee and though I like it strong and black it is not quite as strong as expresso in Italy. But those teeny cups!! I have to order 2 or 3 to get my needed "jolt". Other customers think I am strange...or maybe they just realize I am a crazy "American".

in italy just order your coffee decafinato( pronunce it like daycaf en ato