Parisians may protest — I don’t care — but Rome has better coffee.
The downside (or upside, depending on your temperament) of Italian cafés? They’re noisy, and you definitely can’t sit there for hours. With a laptop? God forbid. You’ll be banished.
In an Italian café, Hemingway wouldn’t have written a single page. A chapter? Fuhgeddaboudit.
But here at Café de Flore, where I’m now nursing my espresso, he finished several. Other intellectual champs haunted these same marble tables: Albert Camus, Raymond Queneau, Georges Bataille (if you haven’t read him, think eroticism and death, and you’ll catch the flavor). Sartre hung out here too, despite the whole “Hell is other people” thing.
Their spirits, along with Pablo — Picasso, obviously — and many others probably still hover over the baristas. Maybe that’s why this espresso costs half a kidney. Or maybe it’s just Paris. Either way, Café de Flore is one of the city’s oldest coffee houses, open since the 1880s. Its name is a nod to the Roman goddess Flora, whose stone likeness greets you just outside.
Speaking of outside: it’s roguishly hot. July in Paris. I don’t know what I was thinking... Actually, I do.
I was thinking: revolution.
This month marks the storming of the Bastille, sure. But also the independence of the U.S., Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia… The world tends to ignite in July.
And you know what else I associate with revolution — perhaps oddly?
Coffee.
It might not seem obvious, but coffeehouses across Europe and the Americas were once radical spaces — incubators of rebellion, espresso-scented salons where the seeds of transformation were stirred into existence.
Parisian Agitation: From Café de Foy to the Bastille
In revolutionary-era Paris, cafés weren’t just spots for a leisurely crème brûlée and flirtatious glances. They were, as contemporaries called them, “hotbeds of mad agitation.” It was in these caffeinated corners that plans were whispered, philosophies refined, and monarchies — quite literally — overthrown.
The storming of the Bastille?
The iconic call to arms began at Café de Foy.
Now, as I order another espresso, I’m reminded of the revolutionary spirit that once possessed me in Barcelona — though that was after a few pitchers of sangria (a tale for another time). But coffee works too.
"First coffee. Then the Bastille."
A Universal Brew for Big Ideas
This wasn’t just a Parisian thing.
Across the Channel, English coffeehouses were called “penny universities.” For the price of a single cup, anyone — regardless of rank or riches — could come in, read the papers, argue with strangers, and devour ideas. Naturally, this egalitarian access horrified the elite.
King Charles II, terrified of “false news” and rising dissent, tried to ban all London coffeehouses in 1675.
His ban lasted... eleven days. The public outcry was too strong.
Coffee prevailed.
Rebellion percolated.
American Patriots & the Taste of Freedom
Cross the Atlantic: after the Boston Tea Party, coffee practically became America’s patriotic drink.
Tea was for tyrants.
Coffee was for liberty.
In Boston, the Green Dragon Tavern — nicknamed the “Headquarters of the Revolution” — hosted the Sons of Liberty as they plotted the next act over hot brews (and maybe a bit of rum punch).
In New York, Merchant's Coffee House served as another vital hub for revolutionary schemes.
These weren’t cafés for idle scrolling or latte art.
They were war rooms for ideas.
So... Do We Need Another Revolution?
If I asked the posh couple sitting next to me, “Do we need to brew another revolution?” they’d probably look at me like I’ve lost it.
But honestly?
Yes.
And that revolution starts behind the eyes.
We tend to think of revolution as Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” — barricades, rifles, red flags.
But the more enduring revolutions? They’re quiet. They’re layered. They show up in our daily decisions:
- How we treat the Earth.
- How we treat each other.
- What we support with our energy, time, and money.
- Whether we keep our minds sharp — or let them melt into complacency and curated screens.
- Whether we look away… or look closer.
So let’s revive the coffeehouse spirit.
Let’s share the brew.
Let’s share ideas.
Sometimes a simple vibe can truly stir a verse into action.
🖤
— Vibe & Verse
From page to thread — a story you can wear
