kenderina

yes, Jody explained it very well. Same thing happens here in Spain with cafes or just bars..it's no fascination , it's a daily question for many people. I try not to spend too much and usually take my coffee at home...to see if I can go during this year to sit on a cafe in Paris

Madison

I also love the cafes but here is my question and I hope I don't get any flack for it but here goes. If you see an empty table do you just walk over to it and sit down or do you ask a waiter if it is okay to sit there? This is for cafes only

nbujic

just sit down and stay as long as you wish!

fnarf999

If there are a lot of people clustered by the door and only one or two tables open, and it's lunchtime, you probably will get yelled at and shooed away if you just "grab a seat". But normally you can easily tell if people are waiting or not. <br>
The point of sitting at a cafe isn't "winding down" or "resting" from all the frenetic activity. Sitting at a cafe IS an activity. You are in a spectacular city; sit and have a look at it. A city is the buildings but it's also the people. Traffic? Yes, of course, you're meant to be looking at the traffic. It's INTERESTING. Try an aperitif you haven't tried before. Just sit and soak it up; this is why you are in Paris and not in a dark room underground somewhere watching television.

bennyb

Sure, sitting in a cafe is nice.

But you can "watch" people all the time, not just at cafes. And what exactly are you "watching" for? They may dress differently because they are probably on their way to work or some other activity while you are on vacation. But other than that, people are people, even in France. I don't see it as a side show, watching these strange beings who are so foreign from me. I'm just looking at people. Not a big deal.

If you want to see people really going about daily life, check out a supermarket. Or "customer service" lines at a utility. Or go to a hardware store.

"Cafe" is simply a nice tourist experience, like all other tourist experiences.

cigalechanta

Exactly, Benny, like here in Boston. You do your errands meet your friends at a sidewalk cafe and watch the world pass by. Makes life fine!

Travelnut

I'm glad I said something that was meaningful for you... We don't 'sit for hours'. It's just a break from the 'sightseeing death march' of which I've also been guilty. I like a cafe creme around mid-morning and we have an afternoon break, sometimes at a cafe and sometimes on a park bench. We do like to 'people-watch' anywhere there is a bit of a crowd or flow of passersby. I think we may actually watch tourists more than locals. We don't speak French - I've learned a few words and try to read very simple text but not sufficient to have real conversations with anyone. I'm not an outgoing person so I have no expectations of 'meeting the locals' other than the most casual encounters. Once we made eye contact and smiles with a Parisian who was walking two miniature bull terriers and having a bit of a power struggle... Another time, we watched an older lady go thru the trash bins around Square Vivian - she was seeking clean plastic sacks - she would shake out any food or paper from the bags, then stuff the bag into her tote. It's just a curiosity kind of thing with me. I enjoy seeing that people are different -and- the same wherever we go.

marginal_margiela

The plural of cafe is cafes. Cafe's shows possession, as in "The cafe's owner smiled at me."

Just a kindly reminder from an ex-English teacher.

SeaUrchin

Sometimes you just want to "be" and not "do", this is when a cafe comes in handy.

fishee

Life has become very privatized -- we spend way too much of our time in our apartments and houses, our cars, our little offices and cubicles.

It's very pleasant to simply enjoy and occupy public space -- leisure spaces where one isn't isolated but out and about amongst other people. There's a vibrant energy in great public spaces that bring people out into the open. Cafes are nice because you can comfortably buy food and drink while you read or otherwise hang out. I suppose it might feel strange to be sitting around a table with your family, staring at each other waiting for something to happen since it's not an event.

nona1

I guess that if you don't enjoy people-watching at home, then being on holiday won't make any difference. You'll still find it boring. That's basically the appeal of cafes - a little break and a chance to watch the world go by. It's not compulsory to enjoy this ;-)

Me? I even enjoy hanging around at airports people watching, so I like cafes, but I can understand that it's not everyone's idea of fun.

kerouac

To each his own.

I have become an established Parisian, and I confess that I do not spend large amounts of times in cafés -- they are just not a center of interest for me. And yet, I was a partner in a café for 3 years and spent countless hours there seeing the industry from the inside, knowing all of the regulars, knowing who wanted to sit at which table to plug in his cell phone charger, knowing which two customers had had an argument and were avoiding each other for a week or so, knowing which crazies would be walking down the street at precisely which time, etc.

It was interesting, but it was not my world. I still enjoy sitting at a few cafés in the summer, in areas of maximum pedestrian traffic like Au Père Tranquille (rue Pierre Lescot) or Café Beaubourg (rue Saint Martin). Meanwhile, I really hate when I have to go to a café somewhere like boulevard Saint Germain -- watching matrons with too much makeup with silly shopping bags, businessmen trying their pickup lines on anyone who will listen, or tourists obsessed by crêpes with cameras hanging around their necks just makes me want to escape the area as fast as I can.

ira

>although it is hard to miss seeing the Eiffel Tower -- you think you are safe and then it fills a vista or peeks over a rooftop and gets you..

Amen, Bro.

Sue_xx_yy

So, if one is not sitting in a cafe, it must mean one is rushing around trying to do it all. Hmmn.

Actually, if one is sitting in a cafe, it must mean one has denied oneself the chance to truly relax and enjoy oneself on vacation. All those coffees will soon be forgotten, whereas one could have been out cycling with a bike troupe, spectating at a sports field, or watching a kid launch a boat in a park.

Apersuade65, You found a way to lurk on this board without help from anyone, so, in Paris, you will find a way to 'lurk' in 3-D and in real-time, in a way that feels natural to you. Enjoy Paris.

Art_Vandelay

Yes, kerouac, what is it with tourists (mostly American) and crêpes, especially the overheated, greasy, pre-made kind that is sold off corner stalls in Paris? Do they miss their junk food so much? Can't they spend one week without having finger food every two hours?

twk

I guess I have a utilitarian point of view regarding cafes. From my point of view, it's fine as a place to take a pause from walking to watch the world go by for a little while. However, it's not really the way I'd want to spend every day for it's own sake.

I would no more reccommend that every visitor to Paris spend part of every day in a cafe than I would reccommend that a visitor to Texas spend a part of each day at the local small town Dairy Queen (if you're from Texas, you know that each small town DQ has a gathering of mostly old men who wile away the time, somewhat like the patrons of a Parisien cafe). If you're into people watching in a big way, fine, but if you're not, then don't feel guilty about prefering other activities.

twk

One more thing about the Texas Dairy Queen comparison: If you think that Parisien cafe society is some intellectual gathering, while the old men down at the DQ are simply hicks, go down to the Dairy Queen in Archer City, Texas. Particularly on a Tuesday--that's bean day, an event that Pulitzer Prize winning author Larry McMurtry never misses. Personally, I can do without either.

apersuader65

Wow! This post generated a lot of responses. I appreciate the tone (not condescending) of your replies. My thoughts on what to do about cafès are tainted by my personal situation, I guess. I would love the idea of letting my wife go shopping while I went to a museum. However, my wife had no prior knowledge or history with Paris or French culture and was very intimidated about what to do and where to go by herself. Only one day did we do something separate, our older son and I did a Orsay and Louvre revisit, while she and our younger son walked along the streets and window shopped. Her biggest fear that day was getting lost and not knowing how to get back to the apartment. Our next trip will involve some family, but also other couples, so I expect she will feel more comfortable going out with the ladies, while the men go to a museum, etc. (stereotyping, I know). I will certainly try the cafè thing at least once while we're their.
To Marginal margeila: I did not know how to put the accent on the e in my word processor originally, but now I've found that ALT+138=è. Thanks for prompting me to find out how!

apersuader65

Sorry, that's there, not their.

travelerjan

jeezlouweeze, apersuader, it's NOT about Paris, OR about knowing French. All over the world (except maybe in big "new" cities in USA), people sit, and muse, and talk, or read, or look. And they STILL get their jobs done, raise their kids, check off their lists -- but maybe their blood pressure isn't as high. Because they've learned to stop and smell the roses.

One early evening, I sat in a cafe on the promenade in Nafplio on the bay of Argos in Greece, as the sun dyed the mountains pink. At the next table, for an hour, sat a Greek businessman, also looking out over the water. In 45 minutes he slowly drank a minute cup of coffee. I looked about my table-- at my journal book, my newspapers, my camera--and then just gave myself up to the sunset.

Of course, I'm not a Type A. But Type A's should try it -- and not just once. It takes practice, but you'll really get to like it!