Café Chez Claude

Have you ever wondered what happened to those wooden-​floored, basic, wooden-​countered bars, where the furniture scraped on the floor, the bar didn’t have mirrors or dozens of glasses reflecting a myriad halogen lights, and the girl behind the bar chatted a bit too loudly, a bit too flirtingly, and with vaguely Gothic make-​up on, to three or four local guys you wouldn’t trust to clean your car?
Well, here it is. Two coffees cost a little over two euros. A big telly in the corner showed a rugby match, and a couple of fans spread out over their table muttered appreciatively or groaned loudly according to the run of play.
No-​one cared about the couple of slightly too well-​dressed Brits trying to hide behind the local newspapers (provided free).
And then in came a horde of kids with one or two adults, as the warmth of the café brought them indoors from their Hallowe’en mischief.
Great stuff, Claude. I love your bar!