As an easterly wind drops the thermometer below seasonal norms, owners insist the outdoor coffee is “basically a spa.”
PARIS, France (The Paris Fool) – A cold, dry spell driven by a north-easterly wind has pushed Paris temperatures one to three degrees below seasonal averages this week, and the owners of the city’s pavement cafes have responded the way they always do: by adding a heater, a blanket and a surcharge, in that order.
What the Forecast Actually Says
The weekly weather outlook promises lows of around 3 degrees on Thursday and Friday, with frost possible in the outer suburbs, where temperatures could dip below zero. The chance of lowland snow around the tenth was put at between zero and five percent, a figure that Parisians read as a firm offer. By the weekend, the forecast turns milder, with a risk of showers, which is the weather’s traditional way of apologising by throwing something at you.
Forecasters have also been asked, as they are every year, whether the winter ahead will be colder, and have responded with the confidence of professionals who intend to be wrong in a different direction.
The Terrace Defence Doctrine
For Paris cafe owners, a terrace is not a seating area but a point of principle. “A table that faces the street is a table that faces life,” said brasserie manager Philippe Anselme, standing in a coat beside an outdoor heater the size of a jet engine. “If a customer wishes to sit inside, where it is warm, we can accommodate this, but we will think less of them.”
A rapid survey of 400 diners found that 83 percent preferred a terrace at any temperature, 12 percent preferred the inside and 5 percent were not sure, having lost sensation in their lips. Of the terrace faithful, 64 percent said they were “fine,” a word that on a cold pavement means something between “hypothermic” and “committed.”
An Inventory of the Heater Arms Race
- The gas heater: a tall mushroom-shaped device that warms one cheek of one customer and the nose of a passing pigeon.
- The fleece blanket: loaned free of charge, then mentioned on the bill under “textile experience.”
- The glass screen: a transparent wall that keeps the wind out and the cigarette smoke in.
- The cup of hot chocolate: priced to reflect the cost of heating the air above it.
The Surcharge Question
Service-sector prices have been climbing, with accommodation and transport among the drivers of the latest inflation figures, and comedian Margaux Delattre said the pavement cafe had found its own way to participate. “I paid for a coffee, and I understood the price once I saw the heater. I was not paying for the coffee. I was paying for the heater to look at me while I held the coffee.”
Hoteliers have noted the same pattern. One front-desk worker in the 9th said a guest had asked whether the room came with a terrace, and on hearing that it did not, had requested a discount on the grounds that the cold was not included.
What Happens Next
If the frost does reach the suburbs, some outer cafes are said to be preparing the ultimate step: an interior. Meanwhile bohiney.com’s weather desk is advising readers to dress in layers, keep a scarf near the door and never, under any circumstances, ask a waiter whether the terrace has a roof. It is a question the profession considers an insult and the weather considers a dare.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
