Crossing cultures can offer small findings and enormous discoveries. Cafés are considered such a banal element in French culture that I wonder sometimes if French people are aware of how unique they are to foreigners. As an American, I will never find going to a café a mundane experience. Cafés are true communication centers here. Things happen in cafés: people spread news, friends are reunited, deals are settled, issues are discussed. You see people nodding in agreement and shaking their heads "non", offering a drink, yelling at one another, slapping someone’s shoulder in a friendly manner. You see couples fighting and then kissing, you learn that "the guy over there is selling cèpes (the caviar of mushrooms) at a great price", you hear a woman announce that her son has finally passed his driving license. It makes me wonder about other places in the world: where and how do people exchange information in your country?