Starbucks in Paris

When I first went to Starbucks  in Paris, I felt a little bit guilty that I was bypassing several local cafes that had a more “authentic” feel to them. When I read David Lebovitz’s comments about how bad French coffee is, any remaining guilt quickly passed. Starbucks in Paris is great because the bathrooms are usally clean and easy to access, the cafes are air conditioned and, unlike regular cafes, you aren’t charged more if you stay and linger instead of taking your cafe to-go. Plus, it’s nice to be able to order a french press or a big Americano without getting strange looks.

Price-wise, the drinks are a little bit more expensive than it is in the US (mostly because the Euro is stronger than the dollar), but the food comes out to about the same price points. I also thought that the food and pastries were better overseas. It seemed like there was a lot more variety and, while I do like the classic coffee cake here, I don’t think I can argue with things like this gorgeous chocolate-covered donut or the Starbucks Fusion desserts created by pastry chef Michalak.