Another Great Place To Write Your Blog - In Hakone, Japan

Coffee Shop "Maurice Utrillo," Hakone, Japan

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 25mm f1.4 Summilux

iso400, f1.8, 1/40 sec

 

Today, I decided to take the easy way out, and show you where I stopped to write my daily blog entry. This is a gourmet coffee shop on the main drag in Hakone Yumoto, Japan called "Maurice Utrillo." If you're seriously ever looking for it, it is easy to find; there is a big red Fuji Royal Coffee grinder out in front.

 

 

 

Coffee Shop "Maurice Utrillo," Coffee Grinder, Hakone, Japan

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 25mm f1.4 Summilux

iso400, f2.8, 1/800 sec

 

Maurice Utrillo was a French artist, who specialized in painting cityscapes. Here's an interesting entry about him from wikipedia:

 

An apocryphal anecdote told by Diego Rivera concerning Utrillo's paternity is related in the unpublished memoirs of one of his American collectors, Ruth Bakwin:

"After Maurice was born to Suzanne Valadon, she went to Renoir, for whom she had modeled nine months previously. Renoir looked at the baby and said, 'He can't be mine, the color is terrible!' Next she went to Degas, for whom she had also modeled. He said, 'He can't be mine, the form is terrible!' At a cafe, Valadon saw an artist she knew named Miguel Utrillo, to whom she spilled her woes. The man told her to call the baby Utrillo: 'I would be glad to put my name to the work of either Renoir or Degas!'"^[5]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Utrillo

 

 

This shop's coffee menu includes "blended," "weak," (500 yen each) "Cafe Au Lait," "Viennese," (700 yen each) and "Dutch Coffee, High Roast Strong" (850 yen). Since I plan to sit here and take up space for a while, I threw caution to the wind and ordered the Dutch. Let's see, 850 yen, at 80 yen per dollar, oh well, it's somewhere North of $10. But boy, does it live up to its description! Lovely, dark, strong.

 

"Dutch Coffee, High Roast Strong"

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 25mm f1.4 Summilux

iso400, f1.8, 1/125 sec

 

The lady serving coffee is very nice, and even dug up an English menu for me. My Mom would love this place; it is full of old dolls, mostly from Europe I imagine.

 

This is a place I can relax, unwind, write, and read. Perfect before getting back on the train for Tokyo in about an hour, heading directly into Friday night rush hour...

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Help me buy an original Utrillo, or at least some coffee! Use the link below to order your Amazon items!