Bars, bistro, troquet, tavern…
The café has replaced the tavern as the place of choice to socialise.
Borrowing a few lines from Alfred Delvau in his "Histoire anecdotique des cafés et cabarets" (1862), to demonstrate that at any time, whatever its name was, it was a place where poets, philosophers, artists, politicians, whatever origin or social class, met and exchanged
"Socrates or Diogenes were in taverns of Athens, Virgil in Syrian taverns, Ovid with Horace paid visits to innkeeper Coranus, Goethe went to Auerbachkeller in Leipzig, François Villon to La Pomme de Pin in la Cité, Ronsard spent time at Sabot in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel, Racine and Marivaux to the L’Épée de Bois on Quincampoix street... "
Places like the Café du Croissant or the Procope in Paris attract our attention (it was also frequented by Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Benjamin Franklin, Marat and Danton) and served for the dissemination of new ideas. Thus they provided in France, for example, the environment for the dissemination of thoughts of the Enlightenment period.
The cafes were centres for transmitting information, news and events. Intellectual discussions naturally thrived there. Everyone had the right to speak, even if he was not rich or gentleman. People discussed and quarreled about the important issues: religion, politics, art.
"The counter of a coffee is the parliament of the people" liked to say Honoré de Balzac. At the heart of Paris, some like to say that certain Cafés say as much about the history of the city than a visit to the museum. These are the places I like to paint, always picking a particular era (1890-1920).
D.K.
