Ordering Cappuccino - What went wrong?

I think your only mistake was choosing the wrong bar.

You could have ordered French coffee instead of Italian, in France....

What David and Nigel said. It really does sound like the wrong choice of bar. This description of French coffees may help in future: http://www.myfrenchlife.org/2014/04/17/7-tips-for-ordering-coffee-in-paris/

It is hard telling if anything "went wrong", but to Nigel's point "Cafe au Lait" would have been more typical.

I'm surprised that you've been doing this successfully for years. In France? I've seen coffee in paper cups only at the stations or the recently arrived Starbucks.

To use a powdered mix sounds downright sacreligious. I think if this happened in Italy, someone would be going to jail pronto :-) Seriously, this is a bar to stay away from because they don't know what they're doing (never mind the "take away" part). Sounds like they had no milk to be steamed either, so they substituted whipped cream.

In France they make cappuccino differently than Italy. I have never had whipped cream and chocolate sprinkled on it in Italy where it is made much like a latte but with foam and of course with espresso. In France my husband inadvertently ordered it once and got this gooey concoction with whipped cream. If you want the French version of cappuccino you order a 'creme' or a 'cafe creme'. Cappuccino is not a French thing.

The French milky coffee drink is 'cafe creme' 'creme' or at breakfast some people still order cafe au lait but that is falling out of use or used in a hotel breakfast where they bring a separate pitcher of coffee and hot milk. At a bar to go, what you want is a 'creme'.

To order an Italian drink in a French bar suggests a Starbucks mentality. It is a France order a French coffee. If you are in Austria you would order a 'melange' for the local coffee/milk drink.

Thanks for all the responses. Yes, absolutely agree, choosing the wrong bar was the first mistake. I'll try "cafe au lait" or "cafe creme" tomorrow at a different place and see how that goes. I've really had no issues ordering take away coffee any place we've been though (parts of England, Wales, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Belgium) , and it's always been in paper cups, although it's been a while since we've been back in France.

It's not the only thing that went wrong lately. We tried to squeeze in a visit to the Amiens Cathedral late today after Beaumont Hamel, and we know we were pushing our luck to get in because of the late hour. We zoomed into an underground car park near the Cathedral and managed to get to the front door exactly as they were kicking everyone out and closing it at 6:30pm. The good news is we know our way around the parking garage, but we'll try again tomorrow or the next day.

Peter

It isn't 'cafe au lait ' either; the thing you want is a 'cafe creme' or just a 'creme'

Yes, thanks Janet, I re-read your reply and didn't pick that up the first time, but will make sure to ask for that. Thanks.

Appreciate the interesting discussion. I hadn't realized the complexity of ordering a coffee drink.

RE: If you are in Austria you would order a 'melange' for the local coffee/milk drink.
I ordered "cappuccinos" in Austria (and other Germanic countries - Germany, Switzerland, northern Italy) and got at least the American equivalent of cappuccinos without problem because "cappuccino" was the limit of my vocabulary. My language deficient strategy is to apologize for my ignorance and try to order in English.

You mean I shouldn't order my usual "latte grande"? This is why Europe needs more Starbucks. (humor intended")

Also it's à emporter, not a porter, for carry out. This was probably a little neighborhood place with the usual characters at the bar drinking their usual glass of morning red wine. Surely they too wondered what in the heck was going on with this English-speaker wanting to drink ersatz coffee in a plastic glass when you could have had a good glass of red, a boiled egg or a croissant.

But what is travel for if not to learn how to order your favorite drinks in many languages? And there is always Starbucks.

And there is always Starbucks.

Yes there is. And believe it or not, tasted much better in Paris than it does at home: not burnt. Their outlets were also very busy with Parisians, especially in the mornings, so they're not just there for tourists. We've found the same to be true in London, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Munich, so far. Funny, that, as it's not usually our choice at home but they're sure nice for grabbing the size-able take-away cup to hit the streets with.

French coffee is hit or miss. Italy is the place to get terrific coffee. In Paris the best coffee place we have found is Cafeoteque located on rue Hotel de Ville on the right bank very near Pont Marie metro stop. They also have nice pastries and very good hot chocolate, but the coffee is the star. They roast it there, have several choices every day and make an excellent cafe creme as well as espresso straight up. There is also an excellent place in the 17th on or near Rue Batignolles but I can't recall the name.

Note re pronunciation. The "creme" in cafe creme rhymes with gem (or hem or stem, etc.)

I've had equally good coffee in France and Italy. Coffee anywhere can be hit or miss. I drank 1-3 café crèmes everyday for two weeks in Paris recently at different cafés all over Paris and they were all very good. My favorite coffee here in SF is Blue Bottle, as a reference... : )

The test of coffee is an espresso; once you dilute it with milk in a latte or creme, it makes less difference. Italy has reliably the best espresso according to most of the coffee afficianados I know. YMMV of course.

David Lebovitz raves about this place
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/belleville-brulerie-holybelly-paris-coffee-cafe/

If you go to their website and scroll to the bottom of the page and click, you'll get a map showing Paris cafes serving their coffee. There is also a retail store on the rue de Belleville between Pyrenees and Jourdain metros but it never seems to be open

https://cafesbelleville.com/