Life imitating art - ooh la la! (Café Des Deux Moulins (Paris, France))

Member Name: ms_memory

Product:	Café Des Deux Moulins (Paris, France)
Date:	30/12/08 (225 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sightseeing and coffee break in one, prime location, cosy atmosphere.

Disadvantages: The waiting staff are not exactly charmers; it can get very crowded.

What better way to spend a wintry weekend in Paris than holed up in the café where Amélie Poulain used to work? Yes, this is the place where Audrey Tautou's character waited tables and brightened up her patrons' lives with her sweet smile and secret good deeds. On a recent trip to the French capital I was surprised to learn that it's also a fully functioning café-bar which attracts locals as well as tourists and film-fans.


***Location***

The Café des deux Moulins is set on a corner about halfway up Rue Lepic, a winding, steep little street lined with colourful shops and chic apartment buildings in the trendy Montmartre district of northern Paris(18th arrondissement). It's less than 5 minutes on foot from the metro station Blanche and the famous Moulin Rouge. My friend and I actually stumbled across it during a walk around Montmartre and, since we'd both loved the film, we couldn't resist popping in. It turned out to be the perfect place to warm up during our tour of the area - afterwards we continued on up the Rue Lepic, turned left and found ourselves in the heart of the Montmartre, with more cute streets and quirky shops to explore, plus the two windmills which gave the café its name.


***Atmosphere***

We went early on a Sunday afternoon and were lucky enough to nab a tiny table for two near the window, since the place was very crowded and we didn't fancy the outdoor seating in December! It was easy to see why this place was chosen as a location for a film that presents Paris as a kind of Technicolor toytown/ fairytale village. The café had retained its friendly neighborhood atmosphere, despite being on the tourist trail; there were ads on the walls for various concerts that would be taking place that week. It didn't seem to have changed that much since the film was shot in 2000. It actually felt a little weird entering a place I'd never been to but which felt familiar.

The furniture was rather ramshackle and didn't match; the tables were small and crowded together near the front of the single large room, with booths towards the rear and large windows on two walls to let the sunshine in. This all gave the place a nice cosy, lived-in feel. The space was so crowded that we were almost sitting together with the couple on the next table - it was definitely a good place for people watching. Customers were snapping away with their cameras left, right and centre. Of course, my friend and I had to join in and take photos of each other from various angles to include the famous bar from the film, which was illuminated in warm yellow neon from above and as shiny and crammed with crockery as when Mademoiselle Poulain worked there. Nobody seemed embarrassed to be taking photos; the staff and locals neither laughed nor objected, which was a relief!

There was a large picture of Amélie on the wall at the back of the café. The menu also boasted "Amélie's Breakfast" and separate specials "recommended by Amélie", but in truth I was surprised that more hadn't been made of the fact that the café has a place in celluloid history.


***Menu***

The drinks menu was eclectic and extensive, with lots of different kinds of beers, wines, spirits, milkshakes, and hot drinks such as hot chocolate and coffee with various kinds of alcohol shots and syrups. I ordered a café noisette, which was not much bigger than an espresso, came in a little glass cup with milk, and had a delicious hazelnut aroma; it set me back about 2 euro. Soft drinks were rather expensive in comparison to the coffee - around 5 euro each, but then considering it's a popular tourist attraction in the capital, that's not too bad. Food was served all day and comprised the usual French brasserie fare - sandwiches, soups etc. Not many people seemed to be eating, though apparently tourists traditionally order the "crème brûlée d'Amélie Poulain" and eat it the way she did in the film. We decided against ordering food - the service was so slow we thought it wasn't worth the hassle (maybe the other customers had decided the same). Lunch for two would have set us back about 40 euro.


***Service***

Having already been in Paris a couple of days we'd got used to the standard rudeness displayed by most waiters, but expected things to be better in this place - maybe we'd been influenced by the film! One of the two waitresses was young and had her hair cut into a dark bob - and that was where any similarities between the film and reality ended. Although the café was busy, most people already had drinks, but still we had to wait about 20 minutes before our table was cleared and we were given a menu. It took another 20 minutes before we were allowed to place our order. My request for tap water with the coffees was met with a scowl, though we'd ordered it in other places without any problems. When we were ready to leave, our waitress, despite having nothing to do, studiously avoided our gazes and ignored our requests to pay up. I had to put my coat on and head for the door before she'd give me the bill. But, taking inspiration from the café's most famous employee, we didn't get annoyed and instead flashed the lady beaming smiles, said a polite "au revoir" and headed back out into the chill Paris air.


Address: 15 rue Lepic, 75018 Paris (Montmartre / Pigalle / Trinité).

Summary: Pleasant film-location-cum-café