le Marais

Ok, so Café Beaubourg is hardly off the beaten track – it stands in a square of sublime artiness, neighbouring the Centre Pompidou – but it has become my favourite place to stop for a coffee in Paris.  The shadow cast over Café Beaubourg was the museum’s pretty much justifying but still annoying strike , just when we wanted to see the Pierre Soulage exhibition.

I posted about Café Beaubourg back in July this year, but I couldn’t resist visiting again (in the name of research), so I’ve got better pics to show you just how yum it really is.

Often described as a haunt of the ‘fash pack/jet set/fashionistas’ or whatever you want to such privileged folk, Café Beaubourg is more BCBG than bobo, but don’t worry, there’s no sectioned off, limited view area for ‘civillians’ (thanks for that, Liz Hurley).

A café crème (€5.50) on the terrace feels divine after a long day wandering around the city and it’s in a prime spot for watching art students, Marais hipsters and chihuahuas going about their day.  In the winter, the terrace is covered heated, but if you really want to warm up, dine on the other side of the red velvet drapes and cosy up on a banquette in between concrete columns and bookcases.

Café Beaubourg’s logo-emblazoned sugar lumps and cool soundtrack give away that it’s another outlet from that old paragon of  ‘good taste’, Hotel Costes, and I was completely in awe of their amazing lightning bolt cups – kleptos, control yourselves!

But most importantly, the search for the best croque madame is temporarily over, as Café Beaubourg’s is a traditional béchamel-smothered 2 slicer, complete with fresh bread and butter and a delicious french salad, drizzled with red wine vinaigrette.

In future posts, you will understand my utter contempt for dry and flimsy pain poilane rip-offs, and believe me, there are many of them in gay Paree.

It’s a lot more than you’d expect to pay at €13, but it was so rich and filling that we could barely eat our dinner that night.  The quality of the food is excellent and it’s in a good location if you find yourself feeling weary or with a rumbling tummy in central Paris.

Unlike the notoriously frosty service at Hotel Costes, our waiter at Café Beaubourg was efficient, polite and even helpful when we asked him about the museum closure, despite having to rush around managing the whole terrace on his own.