en panne

Our lab coffee machine, a lavazza espresso point, started leaking into its pod draw yesterday and was swiftly replaced by an engineer, thus managing to avoid a strike or a riot. Apparently the last machine managed 80 000 cups of coffee (counting the number of pods used) before it leaked. The new machine is identical but makes much longer coffees when you press the same buttons - maybe because it's not leaking all its water into the draw any more. I'm sure it doesn't taste quite the same either..

Last night we had an aperitif in chez Georges, aka le comptoir des cannettes, on rue des cannettes - a classic rive gauche watering hole with sub-2EUR glasses of AOC cotes du rhone, a clientele straight out of mai 1968 (which is being commemorated all over town) and free peanuts. It's the place in Paris (that we know) most akin to the little Ombra bars in Venice. Excellent.