Overwhelmed and under-caffeinated in Paris and London

Never be careless with your jambon-beurre

Let me begin by saying I have two things to share with you today:

• A CAFE IN PARIS THAT I MUST TELL YOU ABOUT

• THE MOSAIC PUZZLE GAME

I’ll get to these after a brief reflection. Alternatively, you can scroll past my brief reflection to the good stuff.

A brief reflection

It’s February. Which is better than January but has nothing on March, really. January both dragged and flew by, like a seagull gingerly skirting around the perimeter of the Eiffel Tower: scanning the tourists below for a glimpse of a loose jambon-beurre, while keeping itself from slamming into the wrought iron. That’s just how January felt: always on alert for bread and meats (still not out of my system from Christmas), but wary of the underlying dangers of a gloomy mid-winter.

It wasn’t all bad, though. I did go in the sea on New Year’s Day and I did catch the train to watch some football up north with my brother (not yet a Mosaic subscriber, though not sure he’s big on email as yet) and I did go to the Cutty Sark (for the first time!) the next day with him and my Mum and Dad (both loyal Mosaic subscribers), and I did go to the far north of Scotland to see a friend (loyal Mosaic subscriber) and on the way to and from Inverness Airport saw Stephen from the most recent series of The Traitors UK (not yet a Mosaic subscriber).

There are terrible things happening in the world, so I’m happy to maintain perspective and report that it was, all things considered, A Good January.

But still, I’m going to be a Negative Nelly: my theme of 2026 so far is: ‘overwhelmed and undercaffeinated’.

I simply didn’t drink enough coffee in January. I didn’t spend enough time going for walks in the park, or visiting nice coffee shops, or meeting up with anyone for coffee. I didn’t publish here on The Mosaic like I said I would and I still haven’t found the time to scrape the mould from my window frames. I did spend a week in Paris for work at the end of the month where I took the seagull pic above. In Paris, I was certainly overwhelmed and under-caffeinated, which is similar to how I felt in London the week before that, but it’s nice to have a change of scenery, isn't it?

When I’m busy, I complain. When I’m not busy, I complain. There may well be no helping me. But I AM grateful for the good things and there is hope. We have this thing at work in which we say that the year starts in February because we’re so busy in January and I subscribe to this wholeheartedly. Happy New Year! The daffodil shoots are beginning to appear, brighter evenings are coming!

A CAFE IN PARIS THAT I MUST TELL YOU ABOUT

tl;dr: it’s… La Chance Cafe, 16 rue Ferdinand Flocon, Paris

At the tail end of the aforementioned trip to Paris, I had time to seek out some coffee. A few hours, in fact, before I would have to be back at Gare du Nord and so, equipped with my Navigo travel card, I made a beeline for a cafe long on my list but never in the direction I needed to go in. La Chance sits to the north of the Seine in the 18th arrondissement, at the base of the hill of Montmartre; not far from the official border of Paris proper with the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis and close to where the railway line to Lille and London cuts through. Arriving at the café, I was momentarily confused to see Sacré-Cœur towering at the end of the street. In my head, it was somewhere behind me, but it wasn’t a mirage. I’d come up from the metro from the north and was looking south. I took a snap, here you go:

Paris, like London, has become a friend of Lime bikes and, while it isn’t obvious in the picture, I was in mortal danger from being mowed down as I took it in the otherwise beautifully pedestrianised precinct, complete with shrubbery and parklets. That said, we’re pro-cycling here at The Mosaic, so I’m not against the Lime bikers. And neither are the good folk at La Chance, which is owned by Olympic triathlete Vincent Luis.

“I’ve always wanted to have an establishment to fight this received idea that people don’t like coffee. In fact, they just had a bad experience, because they went to places where thousands of coffees are served without really cleaning the machine.”

Vincent Luis, in an interview with Le Parisien - translated by Claude (AI, not Littner)

Vincent wasn’t in the coffee shop when I visited, or at least I didn’t notice him if he was. Luckily, Le Parisien have already asked all the good questions. Built on Luis’ desire for a fun project as it career as a triathlete drew to a close, the cafe still embodies some of that Olympic spirit with sporting merch and goods on sale, clad with their excellent brand. And by all means come for the merch, but stay for the coffee. The baristas clearly took pride in their work. I was welcomed to the shop by one of the team and once they had sat me down, they were happy to ask about my coffee tastes, preferred origins and how I’d like it brewed. That isn’t to say you can’t have a classic cappuccino with its reassuring praline tones, it simply means you can also try something you’ve never drunk before, brewed away from the espresso machine in an Aeropress or a V60.

I opted for the latter and enjoyed a lovely cup of a medium/light roast described as having a coconut and pineapple flavour profile (CAM Superblend), roasted by Paris’ own People Possession roasters. I wouldn’t usually go for this sort of profile, but I was even more interested when I learned it had no specific origin, with People Possession rustling up this blend at the HQ in Aubervilles, in the experimental style they have become known for. It turned out to be exactly what you would want from a medium/light roast brewed from a V60. A clean taste that is highly drinkable, even if it takes a little longer to brew.

People Possession's coffee packaging remains unbeaten

In addition to the coffee, long time readers of these pages know I’m always on the look out for friendly spots to spend time in. La Chance did not disappoint. Even as I began to cut it fine to get back to Gare du Nord for my train home to London and almost left without paying, I left still relaxed and very-much-not-overwhelmed thanks to the atmosphere.

A community coffee shop, a community space for Montmartre. A place after my own, and The Mosaic’s, heart. Scale the hill, visit the basilica and return to La Chance for coffee and possibly food, too. I didn’t eat, but everything I saw looked great.

“This coffee shop is a project to have fun and especially to receive my friends. I also wanted a place to live. You can come here for a coffee, sit down with your computer or even attend events. If anyone wants to start a yoga class in the basement, why not! ”

Vincent Luis, in an interview with La Parisien

Luis also says in his interview that Berlin might well be his next café location. I’m happy to vouch for him at the Home Office if he can be persuaded to choose London instead.

Check them out on Instagram here: @lachancecafe

THE MOSAIC PUZZLE GAME

And finally, I’ve got a special treat for those of you dying to immerse yourself in The Mosaic brand. It’s THE MOSAIC PUZZLE GAME! A creation with no greater meaning than a test of my ability to (1) use Figma Make to create the game interface (fun), (2) to host to on my own domain (less fun), and (3) to underline my ability to procrastinate in just about any way possible, now including creating an online puzzle game.

It is very much not optimised for mobile however, so you’ll have to use a proper computer for this one. Fire up the Packard-Bell and do the puzzle as quickly as you can: puzzle.ashleygiles.me