Is there anything that has not happened this year? Revolutions, uprisings, protests, wild currency fluctuations, increasing unemployment, financial crises, earthquakes, droughts, terrorism, skyrocketing consumer prices, corrosive government debt, contested elections, riots in London, strikes in France and a near nuclear disaster in Japan. And that is the short list. It does not include all of our personal ups and downs throughout the past nine months. Amazingly, there are still three more months of life to be lived before 2012. Feeling a bit out of breath from it all? Overworked, overtaxed and overtired? Well, perhaps it is time for an autumn coffee break - and not at the same ol' place this time..
For a cup to remember, it will be necessary for you to make your way to Les Deux Magots in Paris, France. Established in 1875, the cafe was named after a popular play in the late nineteenth by the same name - 'The Two Oriental Figures of China'. As such, there are two porcelain Oriental figures mounted on the wall of the cafe to mark its titular origins.
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If you find yourself inspired to write a few lines of original poetry over a cafe creme (5,00E), do not be surprised. The cafe was haunted by several famous French poets including Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) and Stephane Mallarme (1842-1898). Then again, you might drift into a bit of cafe philosophizing. If that becomes the case, then you would be following in the footsteps of Les Deux Cafe's most famous patrons of the twentieth century - the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and the feminist-philosopher Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) - Sartre's companion. While Hart Crane (1899-1932), the American novelist and poet, visited the cafe, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), an artist who requires no introduction, was also among its clientele.
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At 6 Place Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Les Deux Magots overlooks an ancient cathedral and sits at the heart of Paris - the 'City of Light' - making it the perfect place for a well-deserved autumn coffee break.
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(Photo: Les Deux Cafe: Paris, France. Click on to enlarge)
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To watch a short video on the cafe from the Les Deux Cafe website, please click onto the following link and then click on 'Video Visit': http://www.lesdeuxmagots.fr/infos.php
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To view additional photos of Les Deux Magots and Paris, please click onto kleostimes.tumblr.com to the right and check the postings for 10 October.
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J Roquen