2024 Coffeeneuring Challenge #3: So very French

I had to postpone my Coffeeneuring rides from this past weekend (when I was out of town leading Yom Kippur services) til today and maybe tomorrow.

On my way to pick up a drum part from a guy, I decided to get some coffee and a bite. Today would have been my mother’s 89th birthday, and although she’s been gone for decades it felt appropriate to mark the date with a warm beverage. My mother loved the first rains of fall and today was a perfect day to remember that, and to remember her.

I stopped at La Petit Provence, a French cafe in the Alberta Arts District.

Normally a stalwart among my preferred coffee stops, today everything was a little jerky and slow.

My waiter had to check with someone to make sure who’d been assigned to serve my outside table. That took ten minutes after I was seated.

Then, after I made my order — a decaf mocha and a cheese croissant — I waited for nearly twenty-five minutes. Only after I was able to make eye contact with my waiter through the window did she finally bring me my coffee and croissant. The croissant was warm, but rubbery: someone had warmed it in a microwave oven. My waiter apologized and told me the croissant would be on her. I ate it, but it was sad. And I still had to pay for my coffee, which was weird. I felt bad for the waiter, who was very young and possibly new, so I left her a very small tip along with the charge for the coffee drink, got up and left.

It was probably the most surprisingly sad visit I’d had at this place. I’m willing to give it another chance.

While I sipped my coffee, rain came and went and came again. It wasn’t cold and I enjoyed the sound of the raindrops on the heavy canvas canopy above my head. French popular songs played over a loudspeaker. There was a mild breeze with each passing shower. Fall had definitely, finally arrived.

After leaving the cafe, I rode down the hill to collect the drum part, and took a scenic route home for a total of six miles. That’s a lot longer than I usually ride anymore, and by the time I got home my knees were hurting and I felt a little wiped out.

Still, I’m glad I rode.