The Newsstand

Vocabulary of the Week

• Terrasse n.f. Pavement café seating

  Where Parisians sit to watch other Parisians sit and watch other Parisians.

• Addition n.f. The bill

  What you must ask for, as it will never arrive on its own. Survival vocabulary.

• Pourboire n.m. A tip

  Literally 'for drinking'. Optional in France, appreciated when the waiter ignored your accent.

• Déjeuner v./n.m. To lunch / lunch

  The most sacred midday pause. Closed signs appear; the whole city breathes out.

• Un petit crème expr. A small milky coffee

  The morning ritual. Never ordered after noon by anyone who knows what they're doing.