“Why Can’t I Order Hot Drinks in Bars After 9 pm?”
One aspect of Parisian life that continues to perplex her is the strict adherence to “proper” mealtime hours, enforced with surprising and sometimes excessive rigor. She can’t help but wonder why, except for American chains like Starbucks, it becomes “c’est pas possible” (there it is again) to order a hot drink at most bars and even some cafes after a certain hour. While a post-dinner espresso in a sit-down restaurant remains a viable option, attempting to request a café crème in a bar after nightfall is met with an unequivocal refusal.
It leaves her questioning the rationale behind this practice in a supposedly free country. If she desires a hot drink in the evening, she fails to comprehend why they can’t simply leave the espresso machine operational until closing time and fulfill her simple request. Is it truly that burdensome to clean up afterward? This conundrum encapsulates one of the mysteries she’s encountered in the realm of Parisian dining and hospitality. The enigma of the disappearing hot drinks after hours remains an enigmatic facet of French culture that she finds herself continually pondering.
