The cafe in Paris is a profound culture.

I live in a quiet alley by St. Michel's Square. Walk north along the alley for about two minutes to the Seine, overlooking the Louvre and Notre Dame on the other side of the river; if you walk south along the alley for about four minutes, you come to a lively living area. There are many kinds of restaurants, such as French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, German, Arab and so on, which can be chosen at will. In the face of the bustling flow of people, the French sinologist Pujilan once said to me with praise: "this is the living community of Paris, very rich and very educated." Delacroix's former house is entered by this path. "

I looked around and found that apart from all kinds of restaurants, there were many art shops, including sculptures, oil paintings, photography, clothing, porcelain, old books, antiques, watches and clocks, and all kinds of pocket collections. But the most striking of them are the bars and cafes here.

The whole city of Paris is full of bars and cafes, as long as you are tired of walking, you can stop for a drink anytime and anywhere, but it is the most famous here. When I first visited Paris seven years ago, I did not know. When I revisited last year, I learned that this is the famous Saint-Germain District on the left Bank, which is famous for its church worn by Saint-Germain. It is the cultural center of Paris, with Sorbonne University and Pantheon in the east, the Institute of France in the west, the Luxembourg Park in the south and the Institute of France in the north. The most famous double Old Cafe and Flower God Cafe in Paris are located here. Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous French existentialist writer and thinker, is a regular here.

More than half a century later, the two adjacent cafes are still doing brisk business and full of customers. The price here is not cheap, but people still like to sit here quietly for a while, have a drink and have a conversation. I have come to rest here with curiosity, the furnishings in the shop are still bright, the light is bright, and the designs and colors of light sky blue are sparsely distributed around the wall, giving people a sense of elegance and brightness. Sartre used to write at his desk over a cup of coffee, and his works such as being and nothingness were written during this period.

Romantic French people like to drink and drink coffee in the chairs outside the store, while the seats in the shop are mostly empty. The two famous cafes are no exception, with people sitting on chairs under tents outside, leisurely drinking coffee and enjoying the view of the street. I once doubted whether this method was hygienic and whether the dust on the street would fall into the cup. The result of the experience is that there is no problem. Because the French use sprinklers to spray the streets and alleys of Paris with clear water every morning, coupled with the fact that citizens have a strong sense of environmental protection, there is almost no dust on the roads, so they do not have to worry about it. You can enjoy the coffee calmly. Even if it is cold in late autumn, many French people still like to sit outside and drink coffee. I have also tried, it turns out that the tent outside the store is equipped with heating, drying your legs and feet, do not feel cold at all. It seems that the French can really enjoy life.

However, not far to the east of the two cafes, there is an equally famous cafe, but the scene is different. This is the older Prokub Cafe. Founded in 1686, only two stories high, dark green exterior wall, but there are countless celebrities patronized here. For example, the French philosopher Voltaire, the leader of the Great Revolution Danton, the great writer Hugo Hugo, Balzac, and even American statesmen Benjamin and Franklin came here to enjoy coffee when they sent to France in 1776 to form an alliance between the United States and France. Its influence is evident.

Pujilan invited me to have coffee here. There are no outdoor street seats here, so visitors can only drink coffee in the shop. The price is much higher than that of ordinary cafes, but there are still many visitors. The environment inside is elegant and antique, and it is quieter than Shuanggero and Huasheng Cafe.

We found a seat on the second floor. I don't know how to taste coffee. I just enjoy many portraits hanging on the wall. They are obviously celebrities who have come here to drink coffee. I looked around and recognized it carefully. I had forgotten the taste of coffee.

It has been more than 300 years since Paris experienced the Great Revolution, Napoleon period, the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, followed by the February Revolution, the September Revolution, followed by the Paris Commune uprising, World War I, World War II, it can be said that the situation has changed, through the vicissitudes of life, turbulence, but the pattern of Prokub Cafe remains the same, everything remains the same. Confused, I asked the dessert waiter with Pujilan, and he politely replied, "We should not only let every visitor taste the coffee tasted by Voltaire and Hugo, but also let every guest enjoy the ambient atmosphere of that year." This is our philosophy. "

I see! Although the waiter did not use words such as culture, I have clearly felt that the idea he said is not only a way of management, but also contains a concept of culture. What is shown in front of me is no longer a simple cafe, but a profound culture.

It suddenly occurred to me and finally realized that it is not enough for us to rely on the media and books to carry on the culture. The best way is to have some famous cafes like Paris, which dissolve and melt into people's lives and become a part of daily life. Even a frequently traveled street, a frequently seen building, a frequented shop, a frequently worn dress, or even a dish, a snack, a drink. It seems that such a way of inheritance is more vivid and perhaps the best.