Chapter 5: Seasonal Café Culture - Weather's Social Impact

French café life follows seasonal patterns as marked as agricultural cycles. Each season brings different pleasures, challenges, and social dynamics to café culture.

Spring's arrival triggers the great terrace migration. After winter's interior hibernation, the first warm days see massive outdoor movement. Café owners drag out stored furniture, unfurl awnings, and reclaim sidewalk territory. Parisians' ability to sit outside in barely-warm weather amazes tourists—but after gray winters, any sun demands celebration.

Summer transforms café dynamics completely. Tourist influx changes clientele composition and service patterns. Prices may increase (legally displayed as "terrasse" supplements). Ice appears in drinks previously served neat. Salads outsell hot dishes. The challenge becomes balancing tourist revenue with maintaining local patronage.

The rentrée (return) in September brings café renewal. Students flood back, workers return from vacations, cultural life resumes. Cafés buzz with reunion energy and new-term planning. The light turns golden, temperatures remain pleasant, and many consider this café culture's finest season.

Autumn's progression brings tactical decisions about heating terraces. Gas heaters extend outdoor seasons but cost significantly. Blankets appear on chairs—a comfort touch that encourages lingering. The wise café provides seasonal transitions rather than abrupt indoor-outdoor switches.

Winter challenges café survival. Heating costs soar. Customer numbers drop. Only neighborhood loyalty sustains marginal establishments. Yet winter also brings intimacy—steam-fogged windows creating cozy refuges, regulars forming tighter communities, conversations deepening as options narrow.