The Most Beautiful Cafés to Work From

A confession: half of this website was written in cafés around the Marais. Sartre had the Flore; we have the coffee roasters of the rue de Bretagne — to each era its own. If you plan to work away from the apartment during your stay, here is what we wish someone had told us.

First, the unspoken pact: you order when you arrive, you reorder every two hours, and you surrender your table at the half-past-twelve lunch rush. The espresso is the rent. No one will ever move you along if you play the game: Parisian cafés protect those who write — it's a century-old tradition.

Near the Jewel, the magic triangle sits between the rue de Bretagne, the rue Charlot, and the Marché des Enfants Rouges: the new-wave roasters there take their flat whites seriously and make no apologies for their power outlets. In the morning, between 9 and 11:30, it's a library that smells of Colombian coffee. In the afternoon, we migrate to the hushed tea rooms of the upper Marais.

Near the Haven of Peace, the Left Bank plays the classical score: the great banquettes of the corner cafés on the rue Cler, where you can spend an entire morning served by waiters who have been doing this for thirty years. Less latte art, more constancy. We adore it.

And for days of deep concentration, the best-kept secret in Paris: the Salle Ovale at the BnF Richelieu — free, no registration, beneath a glass dome. Our five favorite tables within ten minutes of each apartment are in the guide, Wi-Fi tested on a rainy Monday.