tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post7957588932019194753..comments2008-02-11T15:53:15.835+01:00Smartypantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06607553604645621527noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post-22590720679685969632008-02-11T15:53:00.000+01:002008-02-11T15:53:00.000+01:00Beth sez: <I>... we're sending you home with so much French Roast, they'll think you're smuggling drugs.</I><BR/><BR/>...or that I'm smuggling coals to Newcastle! LOL!<BR/><BR/>Thanks, but I should provide an update since my original posting:<BR/><BR/> I did find a Richards Comptoirs store quite close by (they're a French competitor of Illy, Lavazza, etc.), and they have fine coffee, for only 1€ more per pound than Starbucks. Problem is, the darkest French roast coffee isn't that inky-black, oily-beaned stuff like they have in the States. Last week, out of beans and too late to make it to Richards Comptoir on rue de Bretagne, I was forced back into Starbucks, and I have to give them credit: Their espresso beans are better than the best available French roast, AND a relative bargain.<BR/><BR/>BTW, for more traveler's tales on the subject of Starbucks, check out World Hum (link to their home page is in my Random Stuff list on the left), specifically:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.worldhum.com/slide_show/item/starbucks_slideshow_20080117/" REL="nofollow">This "Audio Slide Show" ...</A><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.worldhum.com/home/item/sipping_starbucks_from_bloomington_indiana_to_shanghai_20080128/" REL="nofollow">... and this article.</A>Smartypantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06607553604645621527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post-20769006356273996372008-02-11T08:22:00.000+01:002008-02-11T08:22:00.000+01:00how about I send Caitlin over from Rome on Ryanair with a suitcase full of Illy or similar. It would only cost 1/3 of an infusion conversion counselor session. I have your machine, so when you come back to visit, I'll put it next to your bedside ( should you elect to <BR/>stay for the slumber party). IN any event, it'll be old home week with your Breville. Bring an extra bag with you, we're sending you home with so much French Roast, they'll think you're smuggling drugs.Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05268877960517994234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post-16306474032169089402008-01-12T20:53:00.000+01:002008-01-12T20:53:00.000+01:00yeah, i've been forced to frequent starfucks when our local coffeehouse is slammed with high school kids rambling on with the day's gossip. matter of fact, i rant a bit in my own blog about the girl who auditions for broadway while taking each order. i feel your pain.bealenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post-88331602504865749122008-01-05T02:30:00.000+01:002008-01-05T02:30:00.000+01:00Joel! I've just spent over an hour on the phone with Malou. Yes, Malou who lives in Strasbourg, but I told her about your <I>crise</I> and she told me she has a good friend in Paris who works with a woman whose brother-in-law's neighbor is the mother of an <I>infusion</I> conversion counselor. In other words, there's hope! <I>Infusion</I>, as you know, is not only cheaper, it's almost universally available in France, requires no complicated and expensive equipment to make, and comes in many, many varieties. Plus, I'm told, you may fortify your beverage with <I>pilules de caffeine</I>, as you, being a junkie, will need to do. (No judgment!) Infusion conversion therapy averages about 18 months, according to Malou, and as you would expect, is free for people covered by the French national health system. For others, each session runs about 180 euros per, plus cost of materials. Three sessions per week are recommended for the first year (daily for extreme cases), but this drops to two per week for the balance of the treatment period. I do hope this helps, <I>copain</I>; I've asked Malou to contact you as soon as possible with the particulars.<BR/><BR/>Beezoo! BrOAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post-22446292243989093982007-12-28T19:25:00.000+01:002007-12-28T19:25:00.000+01:00Liza, if there were a <I>Des Donuts Faisan' Tremper</I> in my neighborhood, <I>you</I> know that I would have been going there since Day One, but I would never have admitted that to anyone, especially in such a public forum as this!<BR/><BR/>Speaking of which, when you sneak around the corner tomorrow morning to DD to feed the glazed donut monkey on your back, could you pick me up one of those "Master Your Own Dunkin' Domain" franchise-information pamphlets? You just gave me an idea...Smartypantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06607553604645621527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post-14307841579257485642007-12-28T16:22:00.000+01:002007-12-28T16:22:00.000+01:00P.S. This post was hilarious! I nearly snorted my own coffee out my nose. I love the part about crawling under the bed and going into a fetal position. Oh, the memories you bring back!!Lizanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25485356.post-82512601884950598052007-12-28T16:16:00.000+01:002007-12-28T16:16:00.000+01:00Joel, I'm just glad for your sake that they don't have Dunkin' Donuts in Paris. :)Lizanoreply@blogger.com