The bill is generic and has printed on it in English "Your Receipt / Thank You." This place is comfortable, busy, and at the moment the waiter is on the other side of the room taking a picture for a group of people celebrating some happy occasion. The floor is a black and white checkerboard.

A man talking loudly on his cell phone in thickly accented French is elbowed by his friend to lower his voice a little. There's a table nearby with little condiment trays for people eating lunch. My espresso came with a white Lavazza tube of powdered sugar, and on a nearby column is a black and white Lavazza poster showing two Italian women successfully demonstrating the fact that it is possible to drink coffee and look sexy at the same time.

The clouds are turning pink outside, and a tiny airplane flies across a patch of light blue. The tall housing projects on the horizon are tinted yellow by the setting sun. It seems to have stopped raining for the moment.