The Sweetness of Paris

In Paris, the key to good living is very simple: wine, cheese, cafes and pastries. C’est tout. You will also find at least one patisserie on every block. My friend Eliza gave me the book Patisseries that provides a list of the most well known shops and their specialties—many are my immediate neighborhood.

The book Patisseries has been very helpful

The book Patisseries has been very helpful

Sadly, I will never be able to try all the pastries–at Miss Manon Patisserie they make 40 different pastries. But I’ve done my best to visit as many patisseries as I can before I leave. They are very easy to find, just look for the shop with a line all the way out the door into the street.

 

La Boulangerie Julien, 75 Rue St. Honore: one block from my apartment, this shop is known for its sable cookies. These delicious cookies are large and flat, almost like a tea biscuit, with melted chocolate chips on top. They come in additional flavors but the day I visited only chocolate was available.

Philippe Gosselin:125 Rue St. Honore I’ve been watching this closed shop for four weeks, hoping that it would open before I return to the U.S. and today—voila! It is open. In addition to being a patisserie, Gosselin is a chocolatier—I try one of his delicious chocolate truffles.

Aux Castelblangeous, 168 Rue St. Honore: Known for its cake like creation called Elegance—but I can’t get enough of the tartelettes with framboises. Also, Aux Castelblangeous is the best place to pick up a sandwich—incredibly fresh and beautiful—they are made on a crusty baguette and look like a movie prop they so perfectly represent the French sandwich. And they are incredibly cheap—2.90 Euros for a huge fresh delicious sandwich!
Larduree
Laduree—one of the most famous patisseries and tea rooms in Paris. I stop in for macarons during a sudden rainstorm and stay for a drink to stay out of the rain (plus I don’t want my macarons to get wet. This delicate little cream filled cookie is not like the macaroons we think of and it comes in many many flavors. I choose chocolate, orange, lemon, pistachio, caramel, and rose petal. The writer Marybeth Bond advised me to try the rose petal macaron. It is light pink and has a light rose flavor, hard to describe, but if you can imagine eating delicious rose petals, this is it.

Macarons at Larduree

Macarons at Larduree

Jean-Paul Hevin: (should be spelled Heaven)—this popular shop on Rue Saint Honore is popular with the couture fashion crowd. The perfect gift for the lovely woman I met with at the cosmetic company—I bought a box for her which I will drop off today. I also picked up a few extra small boxes for gifts back home.
chocolates

 

1 comment to The Sweetness of Paris

  • Mon Dieu! Thanks for your meticulous research; everything sounds so good. I never thought I wanted to eat delicious rose petals, but now I realize that I do.