Keith posted a comment on the previous post asking me to muse on coffee and cigarettes on various continents as related to stress management. Well, I think that’s what he asked. So, to fill in a few days where I neglected my readers, I’ll make a few comments now.
In France – especially before the draconian European anti-smoking laws were enforced in 2008 – it is common to have a cigarette with your morning coffee. The French don’t generally eat a big breakfast so this first cigarette is pretty potent. The residue copper taste is usually cured with yet another cigarette. Coffee is a natural accompaning beverage because it wakes us up and adds caffeine punch to the nicotine buzz. My impressions are that smoking in the early morning is for the real addicts and less tied to the morning café. Back before 2008, one could have a “cloppe et café” in the morning before heading to work. Now, like in the US, this is illegal so you have to grab your coffee to go and smoke outside unless you are on a smoking terrace in Miami Beach as I was in that previous post.
Coda: I quit smoking yesterday, wish me luck!!
Musings on coffee and cigarettes
Fino's Weblog 
Fino,
Thanks for the musing on Cigarettes and Caffeine and Good Luck on your effort to quit smoking.
I would like to add from my personal experience that it took me several tries to quit. Each time I had to dig deeper and deeper into my personal reservoir. I finally quit but going through the process made me a different person, hopefully stronger. A couple of things helped. I learned to crochet to keep my hands busy, and I learned not to drink alcohol. Every time I would have an alcoholic beverage it would make me crave a cigarette. It’s hard to quit under such circumstances. You know, you’ll just have one and quit again tomorrow, right. To cope with stress I took hot showers to relax. Getting the nicotine out of your system will take several days but drinking lots of water and exercising will speed the process. It all worked although it took me a long time to adjust and it took years before I overcame the habit of flicking ashes from a pencil or pen that I held between my fingers. Oh, and I almost forgot, I can now drink alcohol without any cravings or desire for a cigarette, but it took a couple of years of staying away from alcohol before the cravings for nicotine went away. I have been a non-smoker for over 35 years and beg forgiveness from those that I have assaulted with my foul habit.