UN CAFÉ, S'IL VOUS PLAÎT

One of the things I like about Belgium is the way they serve coffee.  You can complain about the eternal grey skies but you cannot possibly fault the way this country presents a cup of coffee.

Here is how it works.  You go into a café.  It will probably be old-fashioned even if it just opened last week.  The style they like in these parts is 1950s modern with a hint of the middle ages.  You sit down, smile at the elderly lady at the next table and take care not to step on her little pampered dog.  Then the waiter arrives.

You just have to ask for a coffee and he will nod, disappear behind the bar, and return with a perfect coffee served on a silver tray with a pot of milk and possibly a little Belgian speculoos biscuit or a square of chocolate on the side.  This is so civilised.  It's as if the Hapsburg Empire had never ended.  It only needs a string quartet and you could be in Vienna.