Cafe Marly

93, rue de Rivoli 75001 PARIS

Located as part of the Palais Royal Musee de Lourve (from the inside of the cafe you look into the Richelieu Wing of the Museum), and though more renowned for meals rather than for coffee, Café Marly is a wonderful experience not to be missed, especially for the first timers to the city.

Once my companion (a fellow tourist fluent in French) explained to the waiter I was new to the city and it was indeed my first ever night there, the waiter went out of his way to ensure we were seated at a table in direct view of the Louvres’ famous glass Pyramid. As dusk turned to night and the lights came on, the juxtaposed modern Pyramid with the ancient building became a beautiful clichéd Parisian postcard.

I ordered a Noisette coffee (an espresso coffee served in a ceramic cup and saucer with a separate jug of hot frothed milk). It was served at a reasonably warm temperature, a sizeable amount of crème atop it, and it had a strong full bodied taste. The bitterness of the beans lingered well after a sip and I was informed the beans were Arabica. Whilst it was not the smoothed coffee it was, nonetheless, exactly what a weary traveller needed: Strong and robust. (The jug of frothed milk allows you to add the milk to your liking and to temper the robustness of the espresso should you wish).

The service was excellent, the French staff were more than accommodating for my ignorance of French and were extremely polite and generous.

Coffee was served with a little Parisian dark chocolate.

Attend at dusk and request to be seated outside under the ornamental arcades of the historic building for the quintessential Parisian picturesque experience!

The coffee was fair to good, the experience (and now memory) exceptional!