Café Culture: Finding the Best Coffee in Paris

Paris is a city of romance, art, and of course, coffee. The Parisian café is an institution, a place to see and be seen, to read a book, or to simply watch the world go by. Forget the big chains; the real magic is in the small, independent cafes tucked away on quiet side streets. From the historic literary cafes of Saint-Germain-des-Prés to the trendy new-wave coffee shops in Le Marais, I spent a week on a caffeine-fueled quest to find the best espresso, crème, and filter coffee the city has to offer. Here are my top 5 picks.