Strada Café in Paris's 5e is the Latin Quarter specialty room that anchors Sorbonne students on a thesis week. Two espresso machines, six filter stations, no music.
Tip: Plug points along the long bench. The €8 filter-and-pastry set is the lunch deal.
Address: 24 Rue Monge, 75005 Paris
Boot Café in Paris is the postcard 3e Marais espresso bar with a painted boot facade and seven seats inside. Pulls Lomi beans, runs a cash-only counter.
Signature drink: Flat white
Tip: Cash only. Take a coffee to the Square du Temple a block away rather than waiting for a seat.
Café de Flore in Paris is the Saint-Germain literary cafe Sartre and de Beauvoir made famous. The cafe crème still arrives on a silver tray at the same tables.
Signature drink: Café crème
Tip: The first-floor mezzanine is quieter than the terrace. Order the chocolat chaud in winter.
Les Deux Magots in Paris faces Café de Flore on the Saint-Germain square and serves the city's most expensive chocolat chaud in a black china pitcher.
Signature drink: Chocolat chaud
Tip: Pay for the view, not the food. The chocolat chaud at €9 is worth the terrace seat alone.
Angelina in Paris has poured the chocolat l'Africain hot chocolate at the same Rue de Rivoli tea room since 1903. The Mont-Blanc chestnut pastry is its second act.
Signature drink: Chocolat l'Africain
Tip: The line is for tourists; the take-out counter is fast and the chocolate travels in a flask.
Dose Dealer de Café in Paris's 5e is the Mouffetard-side specialty cafe that supplies the Sorbonne with single-origin espresso and a brunch carte at the weekend.
Signature drink: Espresso
Tip: The brunch from 10:00 weekends is the steal; the laptop tables sit by the back window.
Yellow Tucan in Paris's 4e is the Marais-side micro-roaster with a single counter, rotating Latin American single origins, mostly Colombian and Peruvian.
Signature drink: Pour-over
Tip: The bench seats are for short stays; for longer work, head to Fragments three blocks north.
