What a café is to us...
| According to the 1970 book "The Landmarks of Paris," "A café is a place where you can converse freely, and in winter a place where you can warm yourself for free." From the day it first opened, the café was a radical kind of space. Even women, who had been confined to the home, were welcome to enter a café. Cafés sold not only coffee but hot cocoa, tea, and other drinks, and gradually added light cakes, every kind of jam, and even ice cream, becoming a comfortable place for socializing. By the end of the 18th century, there were 3,000 cafés doing business in Paris alone — their numbers grew exponentially and they became landmarks of the city. (p. 32) |
| From Choi Yeon-gu, "Words from Paris — Croissant, Tolerance, Engagement: An Intellectual Encounter with the France That Lives Beside Us" (Leaders Book) |
The word "café" is French for coffee. It also means "a place to drink coffee," and these days its meaning has broadened to "a gathering of people with shared interests." The café is said to have first appeared around 1550 in Constantinople (now Istanbul). Then in 1644 the first French café opened in Marseille, and the form spread throughout the country. "Café Le Procope." Still around today, this café was visited by many politicians during the French Revolution, and after the revolution became a "landmark" frequented by intellectuals and figures of culture and the arts. Historical figures like Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire, and d'Alembert were regulars. Benjamin Franklin is said to have drafted and polished the U.S. Constitution at that café too. ▶ Yeh Byung-il's Economic Notes - Twitter: @yehbyungil / Facebook: www.facebook.com/yehbyungil |
