Tag: Paris

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Coffee, Tea or Me

The Oldest Coffee House in Paris

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Kusmi Logo. Illustration by Kusmi Tea. PD. Wikimedia Commons.

I published a blog post some time ago (May 2013) where my subject was the oldest coffee house in Paris—the Café le Procope. It was established in the 17th century and still exists in the same location. Coffee quickly caught on with Parisians and coffee houses like Café le Procope multiplied throughout the city.

The BBC News Magazine recently posted (19 April 2014) an article entitled, France’s Silent Tea Revolution. The point of the story was to expose the growing trend of tea drinkers in Paris. It comments on how the French want quality in their tea bags whereas the English want the cheapest. Companies have sprung up to concoct special teas for restaurants as well as providing consulting services.

The specialist teas are spreading and no longer will French tea drinkers settle for just any old English tea bag (e.g., Earl Grey). The article mentions a retailer by the name of Dammann. While based in Dreux (west of Paris), Dammann has a store in Paris located at 15, place des Vosges (www.dammann.fr). Monsieur Damame, who was granted exclusive privileges by Louis XIV to sell tea in France, founded the company in 1692 (compare this to Café le Procope having been founded in 1686).

The article goes on to identify certain individuals who I mention in my book, Where Did They Put the Guillotine? , Madame de Sevigne, a prolific letter writer during the 17th century, lived in the mansion that now houses the Musée Carnavalet. Napoleon was a tea drinker. Cardinal Mazarin, advisor to the young Louis XIV, drank tea as a medicine for his gout.

Like a Fine Wine

The French are treating tea as they do their beloved Bordeaux wines. There is a special way to serve the tea. Teas are being paired with cheeses and other foods. Teas are being judged based on color, clarity, vintages, fermentation, new growth, etc. For all you wine experts, sound familiar?

Do I hear an international tea contest brewing that is based on blind taste testing sometime in our near future? Perhaps Inglenook will develop a tea that takes Europe and France by storm? Most of you oenophiles will know what I’m talking about.

Do we have a lot of stories? Of course we do. I’m looking forward to sharing these with you. Please continue to visit our blog and perhaps subscribe so that you don’t miss out on the most recent blog posts.

Thanks so much for following my blog and my little journey through this incredibly interesting process of writing a series of niche historical travel books and then getting the bloody things published.

-Stew

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Copyright © 2014 Stew Ross

 

 

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What I Learned about Taxes from Revolutionary Paris

054April, our traditional tax month

I spent one full weekend pulling all my information together just so I could hand it over to the CPA and they could fill out some forms (and then charge me $850). Now I don’t expect you to feel sorry for me but I really did spend all my time compiling information that weekend (from when I got up in the morning until I went to bed). You see, I have four tax entities to prepare (Stew & Sandy, Southeast Business Forums, Yooper Publications, and our HOA).

As I’m sitting at the dining room table doing all of this, I got to thinking about France, the three estates, and the French tax situation back in 1789. I decided I was part of the 99% known as the Third Estate. The other two estates—the clergy and the nobility—did not pay any taxes. Now I’m certainly not part of the clergy. And although I do own land (that was one of the prerequisites for being a noble), I still live from paycheck to paycheck. So that really does eliminate me from the nobility class.

So I guess I’m just a poor peasant or a member of the Third Estate

I suppose the kings figured out the clergy (or the first Estate) were non-profits even back then. I think it may also have been they didn’t want to get on the bad side of the pope. But the real reason for the clergy not paying taxes was the fact that they did perform necessary services for the folks in their respective parishes and therefore took that burden off the monarch’s shoulders (and treasury).

Now the nobility on the other hand, didn’t pay taxes because they were expected to bear arms and join the king whenever he declared war on someone. This was the quid-pro-quo of the day. That may have worked in medieval France, but by 1789 the king couldn’t afford to go to war. The days of the Crusades were over and all the Third Estate saw were the nobility prancing around in their fancy clothes, fast carriages, and going to endless parties. Read More What I Learned about Taxes from Revolutionary Paris