un café au lait, s'il vous plait

P.J. O'Rourke once said: "The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know".

Now he may have been a hippie, and been prone to the odd damascene conversion, (and perhaps a bit of an alocholic if this comment is anything to go by), but I would have to agree with him. The French pride themselves on their coffee-drinking. They have cafés, coffee machines, expresso bars, coffee beans and George Clooney advertising Nespresso everywhere you look. That sickly coffee aroma is always in the air. In fact, all they ever do is drink the stuff (usually accompanied by a never-ending packet of cigarettes - I cannot believe the smoking ban is due to come in soon!). I confess that even I, who thought I had succeeded in putting myself off the bean for life after what seemed like one long essay after another of a first term at university, have succombed to the very French drug.

In fact, might pop off to make myself a cup now...