Coffee and bicycles

Sunday, December 4th, 2016
  • Paul Barron - Le Peloton cafe, Paris.

    Paul Barron stands in front of Le Peloton cafe, in the chic Marais neighbourhood of Paris. Originally from New Zealand, Paul owns the cafe with his friend, Christian Osborn, who is himself from the United States.

    Le Peloton cafe doubles as the office for the duo’s other business, Bike About Tours, a successful cycle tour company that takes tourists on rides around the city, Versailles, and Champagne region. (I actually went on one of their Paris tours earlier this year guided by Bianca, and it was a lot of fun!)

    I spend a lot of time in cafes working on my laptop and sipping cappuccinos. Le Peloton has to be one of my favourites. Not only is the coffee prepared by Christian, Paul, or Couper really good, but the cafe has a lot of regulars so banter and conversations often evolve among different people sitting in the cafe.

    I’ve spent many hours sitting at the bench in the window tapping away on my laptop writing stories for 366 pictures while sipping a cappucino.

    Paris has experienced something of an explosion of so-called ‘artisanal cafes’ in the last two or three years, with new cafes still appearing. Le Peloton was featured earlier this year in the Washington Post as an example of the growing artisanal coffee culture in Paris.

    This isn’t the kind of quintessential French cafe where you’ll sip an espresso while sitting outside watching well dressed Frenchies swooz past you in a cloud of eau de parfum and bourgeois. It’s more similar to the kind of cafes I am familiar with back in Melbourne, cafes that I incorrectly call ‘Melbourne style cafes.’  (Incorrect because they’re everywhere now!)

    Honestly, if I were ever to run a cafe, this would be exactly the atmosphere I would want to emulate. The friendly vibe mixed with the great coffee, and other assorted goodies, means I will most definitely miss this place, and my friends here, when I leave Paris.

    Stand where this picture was taken using Google street view.

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