For a sweet tooth like me, Paris is a dream come true. Everywhere you look there are sweets: pain au chocolat, rocher, religeuse, macaron, pâte de fruit and the list goes on and on and on. So, although I've been to Paris for now the fifth time within the past 3.5 years, I've been able to try new and exciting places every single time. Paris just never gets old.
Sébastien Gaudard
I had read about this patisserie in my newly acquired copy of Sweet Paris by Michael Paul. It's a beautiful shop along Rue des Martyrs with black and white tiled flooring and a strict policy regarding taking photos. I had my iPhone ready when the girl behind the counter forcefully said "No photos! You can take one from outside". When I asked why, she simply retorted "It's the policy". Well, my policy is to bring you mouth-watering photos to make your hearts smile...In this case, though, the photo above will have to do. The pastries all looked perfect and it was hard to decide on what to get. We finally chose a chocolate eclair, a millefeuille, a vanilla eclair and a religieuse (see photo below, from left to right). We took the pastries back to the room where we enjoyed them after our lunch at Noctudîne. The choux pastries were all fantastic, whereas the millefeuille could have had just a tad bit more of pastry cream in it.
This confiserie on Rue de Turenne is a little like entering a doctor's office minus the feelings of anxiety. The styling is light and clean and almost feels sterile. This makes the beautiful fruit jellies stand out perfectly. As I usually find them too sweet, I didn't end up getting any. Instead I chose some rochers as well as some chocolate-covered praline batons. I asked for the flavors peanut and pistachio, but ended up with peanut and what seemed like peanut with some nut crunchies in it. They were good but perhaps not the best chocolate I've tasted in Paris. The confiserie includes a seated café area which may be worth trying although I didn't see any patisserie on display so I can't report back on what they offer.
Finally I made it to Rose Bakery! Ever since I started reading up on places to try in Paris I'd had it on my list but never was in the vicinity. We went to the location on Rue Debelleyme. I felt a little odd visiting a British bakery while in Paris but it was well worth the visit. Since we were there for breakfast we decided on less sweet options. We had a pear blueberry crumble cake and a blueberry bake with a cereal-like base as well as a fruit salad and cappuccini. The pastries and fruit salad were very fresh and tasty but the cappuccini were a tad too milky. I'd love to try their lunch items which include salads and quiches next time.
Poilâne
This is another Parisian bakery chain that's been on my radar since reading The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz. Just for the sake of trying it I got an apple pastry to go and, oh my, was it ever so tasty! The apples had just the right consistency and the cane sugar on top added a lovely sweetness (see the largest pastry on the photo below). Too bad it was one of the last things I tried before heading back home otherwise I would have gone there every day for the rest of our stay!
Popelini
This is also a small Parisian chain right across from Poilâne on Rue Debelleyme which sells only cream-filled choux pastries. We decided on one filled with lemon, one with Madagascan vanilla and one with caramel (see top three pastries in photo above). I was a little skeptical at first as they looked a little like they were made on a conveyor belt, but they actually were very good. To my surprise I found the lemon one the tastiest. I usually prefer vanilla or chocolate flavors.
L'Éclair de génie
This is an eclair-only shop selling all sorts of different flavored eclairs. We went to the location on Rue Pavée. Since we were a little overwhelmed by all the food coloring we decided to just try one eclair in case it tasted fake. We got the vanilla pecan (see photo above), which was good, but it wasn't our favorite eclair we had during our trip.
Blé Sucré
For breakfast on one of the days we tried this boulangerie on Rue Antoine Vollon. There is no seating inside so only go if it's warm enough outside or you want to have breakfast to go. Here we made the huge mistake of ordering coffee, in this case café au lait. Well, there was definitely lait in there, but where was the café? Although I'll probably have many Parisians beating me upside the head on this one, I have to say it: when in doubt, get your coffee at Starbucks! Although it's the slowest Starbucks service I've ever encountered, the coffee tasted more or less as expected. Oh wait, the whipped cream on my mocha was out of a spray can. What? I guess all the whipped cream is used to make lovely eclairs and fruit tarts.
Stay tuned for my second post on where to get savory food in Paris.
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