On Tuesday and Thursday mornings the school's Parent Association hosts a coffee/get-together at Le Vigny, a café and brasserie just up the street from the school, in the corner of Boulevard de Courcelles and Rue Alfred de Vigny. Generally a small group of people meets for coffee and conversation after dropping off the kids at school. We enjoy sharing stories of what brought us all to Paris and to this particular school.
Dianny and I have become regulars and are usually there at 9. By now the waiter in the picture knows us and, after exchanging "bonjours," brings us our usual espressos. In keeping with French tradition, we do not address him by his name, just Monsieur.
The café gets its name from the street it's on, Rue Alfred de Vigny, named after a 19th century French poet. Just a short block behind this cafe was the workshop where the Statue of Liberty was built in the 1880s. A gift to the United States from the people of France, it was designed by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel.
Le Vigny publishes their daily lunch menu on two
ardoises, small, portable blackboards, one of which is right behind where we usually sit (and written by someone who mastered French cursive). So while we're having a morning coffee I'm already thinking about lunch.
