The prize for first restaurant goes to China, centuries before\nFrance got the idea. France started fancy restaurants about a hundred years\nbefore their famous revolution. This fits, because if France was the first to\nhave meals served at a restaurant, they also had a counter-movement with the\ncafes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caf\u00e9 in French, and in a lot of other languages \u2013 literally means\nCoffee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how\u2014when they are open\u2014Starbucks is a nice place to buy a cup of coffee and hang out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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That\u2019s what the Cafes started as. It\u2019s too much of a commitment\nto buy a whole meal. But a coffee? Almost everyone can afford a cuppa joe.\nLondon had these Cafes as well, and all this egalitarian sitting around together\nhad an effect. Ever hear of the Age of Enlightenment? All those diverse people\nmingling together and talking came up with some crazy ideas. Some of them stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaac Newton, Hobbes, Galileo and the Thomas-es Paine and Jefferson\nare products of this coffee pot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having a place to explore ideas will change the world. The United\nStates of America is directly a result if it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the time I was thinking of when I mentioned sidewalk\ncafes to my daughter was the glamorous Paris between the wars. Coco Chanel,\nPicasso, James Joyce and Josephine Baker ate on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They didn\u2019t have the interstate highway along with. But I\nthink they were pretty sure the world was changing. They were doing everything\nthey could to change it. They were being\nas much themselves as they possibly could be, which changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would sure like things to change for the better. I know I can\u2019t do much to change other people, but I\u2019d like to follow what those artists did. The best I can do for today is eat outside. That\u2019s a little better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And adding my little bit of wonder to the week is good too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cVeronica, there is a romantic appreciation for eating on the sidewalk. Paris is famous for having tables outside where you can eat, drink and watch the people go by.\u201d At our table right below the interstate highway, there are no … Continue reading