Café des Nattes

Overlooking Sidi Bou Said like a pasha on his throne is Café des Nattes. It's terrace, spread out over balconies and an impressive flight of stairs, overlooks the village and offers magnificent views of the city of Tunis and lake Tunis on one side and the sea with the bay of Tunis and the mountains beyond on the other side. And, as this video will show you (beside offering some very nice music), Café des Nattes also has a long history as Sidi Bou Said's most legendary café.

As I wrote before, the downside of Café des Nattes is that it doesn't offer any food, but like French cafés it is possible to take your own food. So upon leaving the house, we first walk to our local supermarket and buy a croissant and a chocolate bread roll. Then we climb the steep slope towards the medina of Sidi Bou Said. It's only half past eight in the morning and the village is quiet. Only a few tourists have arrived yet and the shops are still all closed. The waiter of the smaller café du souk, where we had breakfast a few weeks ago, lights up when he sees Rihanna Gaga. He's grown quite fond of her and always takes time to greet her and exchange smiles. However, Rihanna Gaga has grown quite reserved and timid lately. People approaching her are tolerated and sometimes she even smiles, but when they reach for here she will start back. I guess it's a healthy response to strangers, but nowadays she'll even do it to her grandparents and sometimes even to her mum and me if the other is holding her. She clearly needs a strong comfort zone these days.

The main road  basically leads straight into Café des Nattes and after climbing its stairs we enter the nicely decorated café. Only a few men are sitting inside, but they're smoking - like everywhere in Tunisia - so we move to one of the balconies. It's nicer there anyway, with the views, even though the morning is a bit chilly. Rihanna Gaga stands out against the background of the blue and white village, in here lime green onesy and runs around cheerfully on the balcony. Inside the café, "Happy" by Pharell Williams is playing, one of Rihanna Gaga's favourite songs and she dances a silly dance to it.

I order a Turkish café and while I wait for the coffee to sink to the bottom, I eat the croissant and bread roll I bought at the supermarket. It's still very quiet in the village. After the Turkish coffee, I order a tea and some sweets. The tea has pine nuts in it, which is a common way to drink tea in Tunisia - they also serve tea with almonds and other nuts. It's a bit curious at first, but I got used to it very quickly and quite like it now. The sweets are a kind of baklava, but nicer and more compact.

As I finish the tea, the village is coming alive. Several shops are opened and more and more people appear on the streets. I pay and as we leave the café, Rihanna Gaga insists on negotiating the stairs herself - that is, I still need to hold her hands, but she wants to descent them with her own feet. We then continue our way into the maze of alleys towards the hotel where my girlfriend's parents are staying for a few weeks, to say hello to the grandparents.