Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
around since 1772, open 24 hours a day
(except during Ramadan), in an alleyway
just off Midan Hussein. Your fellow tourists
will definitely be there too, huddled at tiny
brass tables under baroque mirrors and
carved wood paneling, but it's a reliable
option in this sometimes bewildering part
of town.
In the heart of downtown's Bab al-Luk
neighborhood, the square named Midan
Falaki is home to a food market, including
several coffee merchants; spacious
Cafe
Hurriya
on the north side of the square has
been around since the 1930s. Though it
looks run down, it's still a de facto club for
many writers and intellectuals. The artsy
crowd also hangs out at
Cafe Ta'kiba,
a
short walk away on Nabrawy Street, just
around the corner from the Town House
Gallery contemporary art museum.
Another vintage coffeehouse down-
town is the original
Groppi's,
on Midan
Talaat Harb, which has been around since
1924 (notice the beautiful mosaic-tiled
columns either side of the entrance). The
coffee at Groppi's is not so distinctively
Egyptian—as it has become a chain, the
emphasis now is on European-style cap-
puccinos, fancy teas, exotic juices, and
rich pastries, and you'll pay tourist-goug-
ing prices. Still, it's worthwhile to spend
some time lounging on Groppi's shady
garden terrace, which served as an unof-
ficial British officers' club during World
War II—a different slice of Cairo history,
but atmospheric in its own way.
(
Cairo International (18km/11 miles).
L
$$$
Semiramis InterContinental,
Corniche El-Nil, Cairo (
&
888/424-6835
or
20/2/2795-7171;
www.ichotelsgroup.com).
$$
The Nile Hilton,
1113 Corniche El-Nil
(
&
800/HILTONS
[800/445-8667] or 20/2/
2578-0444; www1.hilton.com).
Coffee
431
The Cafes of Paris
Brewing up Atmosphere
Paris, France
Coffee drinking is so ingrained in French
culture it inspired its own restaurant genre,
the cafe. Yet many visitors to Paris are sur-
prised—horrified!—to discover how medi-
ocre the coffee served in Parisian cafes can
be, at least by the standards of Starbucks
Nation.
The truth is, coffee quality is almost
beside the point in a Parisian cafe; it's the
ambience that counts. In modern Paris,
cafes have morphed into bar/restaurants
where patrons order coffee mostly
because it's the cheapest way to claim a
table for hours (and therefore cafe owners
know they can stint on the quality of the
product they buy). For Parisians, cafes are
hangouts—everybody's got one—where
they eat, drink, work, socialize, and, above
all, people-watch. They used to smoke as
well: Until a 2008 restaurant smoking ban
went into effect, the peculiarly pungent
scent of Gauloises and Gitanes cigarettes
wafted through every Parisian cafe. What
the ban will do to cafe culture remains to
be seen.
The old Latin Quarter, in the 6th arrondisse-
ment, was traditionally Cafe Central, and its
most famous cafes are well-known tourist
lures: the lacquered upscale
Le Procope
(13 rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie), founded in
1686 and once patronized by Voltaire and
Victor Hugo; or the trio of rival cafes that
once hosted Left Bank intellectuals such as
Jean-Paul Sartre, Camus, and Picasso—
Brasserie Lipp
(151 bd. St-Germain),
founded in 1865; the
Café de Flore
(172
