Le Procope, the world’s first coffeehouse and oldest restaurant, founded in 1686, is situated at 13 rue de l’Ancienne-Comédie – just a few blocks west of the cafés. Supposedly Voltaire would drink 40 cups of its coffee per day. It was also a haunt of the young Napoléon I. Sadly; it’s no longer a coffee house, but rather an elegant restaurant. This is just another example of places that I love for their past even more than I do for their present circumstances. The last time I was in Paris (admittedly it was seven years ago) I stopped in front of Procope, but alas, was too poor to plonk down for the dinner rates. Anywhoo, it has a fascinating history, and here’s a dollop of it.
In 1686 a gentleman from Palermo, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, opened a coffee-shop in Paris. The excellence of his beverages and sherbets, the agreeable surroundings, the proximity of the old Comedie-Francaise; all of these factors contributed to the popularity of this establishment. It very soon became a meeting place for people of sensibility, and the first literary coffee-shop was born.For more than two centuries everyone who was anyone (or who hoped to become someone) in the worlds of the arts, letters and politics, frequented the Café Procope. Voltaire visited, and Rousseau; Beaumarchais, Balzac, Verlaine and Hugo; from La Fontaine to Anatole France the list of the habitués of the Procope is a list of the great names in French literature. It was here in the 18th century that the new liberal philosophy was expounded; this was the cafe of Encyclopedistes, of Diderot, Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin; the history of the Procope is closely linked with eighteenth century revolutionary ideas. Robespierre, Danton and Marat used the cafe as a meeting place, and the young lieutenant Napoleon Bonaparte left his hat here as a pledge.
You may have a picture in your head of a homey little coffee shop, a quaint café of the style that Paris is famous- small tables, little chairs, and lovely coffee. Wrong. Procope is more crystal chandeliers, guilt and fine paintings. The food though is less haute than traditional-so at least that hasn’t changed. Even if you can’t afford a dinner there, it’s certainly worth the stop off. If you’re fortunate you’ll be there when the place isn’t stuffed to the gills with people and you might catch a whiff of its magnificent past.
2 comments:
"The last time I was in Paris (admittedly it was seven years ago) I stopped in front of Procope, but alas, was too poor to plonk down for the dinner rates.>"
So was I! Although it was only a few months ago. But thank you for that fascinating history—I had no idea, and you told it quite well! However I do doubt that it was the world's first coffee house because peoples of the East and Africa were drinking coffee long before they introduced it to Vienna at the end of the Crusades!
Perhaps the Cafe de Procope will be more attractive to Americans now that the Euro has declined somewhat! Also another article that goes into some detail is at Cafe de Procope
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