There are other cities. And I was even gifted with the right to live in some of them. Ask me about Antibes, Cannes, Nice or Monaco; even Toulouse.

But Paris? I go there a couple of times a year, generally for no more than a few days spent doing the compulsory shopping, dining out and partying, with very little time left for pâtisserie-scouting. What about the time when I actually lived in Paris for ten whole weeks. Now you bring this, I must say, that back then, I was in a pâtisserie, not visiting pâtisseries, and that well, thank you for reminding me I didn’t have enough time to complete the pastry-tasting I had initially planned.

But because I love you and will do anything to make you happy, I’m going to share with you a few of my favourite places around Paris. Since I proclaim any good pâtisserie or food store a favourite; the list could probably narrow down to two or three hundreds spots; but here, I’ll make sure to keep it brief and delicious, and will only feature the places I find myself visiting on a regular basis.

If you’re looking for a absolute guide to Paris pâtisseries, I suggest you get yourself a copy of The pâtisseries of Paris – Jamie Cahill’s latest book, so beautiful you could read it anytime of the year, but which could become quite handy if you’re planning to visit Paris.

Before I tell you more about my hand-picked list, I’ll clarify a few points on books.

Please welcome warmly my eight favourite places around Paris. As you’ll notice most of them are in the first, second and sixth arrondissements. No wonder here. When I’m in Paris, I live right in the heart of the first arrondissement so, ahem, I tend to have a routine which consists in walking or velib’ing from my flat to the sixth – almost always through the pont neuf – for a latte or citron pressé at Café Flore; then cross the Seine again, landing at the Louvre carousel and later on, in the second arrondissement.

However, since I used to work in the fifteenth, I have my favourites over there as well, which include – as you might have guessed – Pierre Hermé.

Angelina
226 rue de Rivoli – first arrondissement

Okay, so this might not be a surprise, but Angelina is my favourite place for cold afternoons, when all I crave is good winter food; during those days, only a hot chocolat africain and a mont blanc will do.
They’re out of this world. Really.
I usually spend a good couple of hours there, sipping through the incredibly thick hot chocolate and reading the latest issue of Thuries magazine.

Pierre Hermé (closed on Mondays)
85 rue de Vaugirard – fifteenth arrondissement

Most of you know how fond I am of Pierre’s pastries. I do have favourites though. The collections I love the most are Mosaic – pistachio and cherry, and Infiniment Vanille – Mexican, Tahitian and Madagascar vanillas. Please make yourself happy and have a millefeuilles Mosaic or a tarte Infiniment Vanille or both.
Amongst the macarons, I must admit I’m partial to Mogador, Mosaic (again) and balsamic vinegar.
I do also advise you taste the cannelés and croissants – the best around town.

Des gâteaux et du pain
63 boulevard Pasteur – fifteenth arrondissement

This is where we – the pâtissiers at Pierre Hermé’s – used to get baguettes for our breakfast break. And trust me, good levain baguette it was. The crust is crisp and golden, while the crumb is uneven – with large air pocket – and slightly chewy.
Most definitely the best baguette I have ever had. The pastries are also fantastic looking and equally good.

G. Detou (closed on Sundays)
58 rue Tiquetonne – second arrondissement

This is where I go when I need hard-to-find ingredients. Liquid glucose, cocoa butter, pistachio paste… just to name a few.
I also recommend the cheap yet great vanilla beans, which are sold by fifty.
The staff is cheery and helpful, so do not hesitate to ask for help.

Stohrer
51 rue Montorgueil – second arrondissement

Being a one-minute-walk away from my flat, you’re likely to find me shopping at Stohrer – one of the oldest patisseries in Paris – on Sunday mornings.
Although all the pastries look refreshingly old-fashionned, I always end up buying a puit d’amour: a crisp puff pastry shell encloses a fragrant vanilla crème topped with a brittle caramel.

Sadaharu Aoki
35 rue Vaugirard – sixth arrondissement

Being the matcha green tea lover I am, I can’t help but drop by Sada’s pâtisserie, where I will only take two millefeuilles. One for instant gratification. One I’ll save for later – probably breakfast.

La grande épicerie (closed on Sundays)
38 rue de Sèvre – seventh arrondissement

My friends always tease me because I go grocery shopping at la Grande Epicerie which they see as one of the most expensive supermarkets around. Although, this statement is somewhat close to reality, I prefer to disagree claiming that Monoprix is much more expensive (ahem, right).
Don’t discuss, go there, buy Jean-Yves Bordier butter and spread it thickly onto a slice of baguette.

Patrick Roger (closed on Sundays and Mondays)
108 boulevard St Germain – sixth arrondissement

Call me superficial, but I could go to Patrick’s chocolaterie just for the perfect bondi-blue boxes. Quite evidently I have other reasons; like: chocolates.
Awarded Meilleur Ouvrier de France, Patrick creates simple yet delicious chocolats. I am known to always purchase the almonds, dipped in caramel and covered with a thin layer of dark chocolate. The oat ganache chocolate also holds a special place in my heart and I hope it will in yours too.

Now I’m curious… What are your favourites?

You see those cute little guys above. Don’t underestimate them.

Oh no, don’t.

Sure, they do look nice. So plump and golden, you could almost tell right away how crisp and brittle their beautifully thin crust is.
And they certainly do taste good as well. Imagine fragile layers of fine pastry made sticky with oodles of sucre semoule [caster sugar] and beurre doux [unsalted butter]. These are probably what your next dream will be built around, which I would understand. More than you think I would.

But gosh, they gave me a hard time back when I was an intern at Pierre Hermé’s patisserie.

It’s not their détrempe – the mix of flour, butter, fresh yeast, water and salt. Although, I must admit that carrying 25kg bags of flour or emptying the mixing bowl, which I could fit into, wasn’t as funny as it may sound.

It’s not even the tourage, during which you enclose some delicious unsalted butter into the prepared détrempe and fold. Trois tours simples. Folding in caster sugar as you do so, but only for the last tour. It is, without a doubt, a lengthy process – with three resting times in the fridge since the last thing you want is the butter to start melting, the yeast to wake up, the gluten to develop, but an relaxing one.

Here it comes: the façonnage [shaping], the all-time feared step. Guilhem, who was then chef de poste at the tour, should be blessed. He patiently kept showing me how to fold little squares of the elegantly layered dough flecked with jewel-look-alike grains of sugars into neat folded buns.

That just wouldn’t work for me.

Or only very rarely, the only excuse Guilhem could come up with being that my body temperature is just too hot for me to handle buttery doughs. By the time, my squares had been folded into eight, they had that shine. Yes, that shine; which warned me of the upcoming liquefaction the butter was about to undergo.

And quite evidently, they wouldn’t hold their shape and almost always opened like flowers. Pretty pretty, but so not wanted here.

I hear you coming. It must not be that difficult! She’s only exaggerating / incapable (cross out the least appropriate answer). Well, I told you how frustrating those little guys tend to be.
Just try and say their name right.

kouign amann

As most French word, you so not pronounce it the way it is written. That would just be too simple. Remember who – or more extacly – what we’re talking about. Not your usual plain croissant or brioche or even pain au chocolat. No, we’re talking kouign amann here.

koonnee* queen aman-neu, an being French [ɑ̃] as in amande [almond] or grand gâteau [tall cake].
*basically, I’ve always said koonnee and not queenn, but I might possibly be wrong. Thanks Nol for pointing me right!

Obviously, you could also just visit Pierre Hermé’s pâtisserie and buy one – or two – and savour them to the last crumb before you hit the tube or vélib station.

Dans ma bibliothèque
[In my library]I just launched something I’m so very excited about: my own special library, where I share my thoughts on the books I’ve read.
Head over here to find the books I’ve read, those I’m currently reading and those I’m planning to read.
So far, I’ve only written one review, but I promise that many more will come.Oh and yes, I know there are still some tweaking to get done. I can’t seem to include the top navigation abr without problems, which makes the layout look funny on IE. Consider this as an opportunity to get a decent web browser!

La coupe glacée: pétale de rose et lychee with gaspacho de framboises.

I could share with you my foolproof recipe for a perfect tarte au citron meringuée [lemon meringue tart], my new exciting idea, the lovely places I discovered during my one-week road trip around les Alpilles, the best risotto ever to be made or even my method for flawless pâte sucrée. Yep, I could, but instead I’m spending my mornings at Pierre Hermé’s pastry shop – making pâtes, viennoiseries, sablés and brioches -, and my afternoon wandering around Paris.

Yesterday, I had lunch at Le café La Jatte – a lovely place located on the Jatte Island in Neuilly.
The food was simple yet elegant, with clean and fresh flavours: just the way I love it on a daily basis.

I started with a tartare de saumon d’Ecosse. The salmon was deliciously accompanied with a tangy fennel salad – a perfect match.

The chèvre frais moulé à la cuillère with concombre émincé and pamplemousse à la menthe fraîche was a hit too – ideal for a hot summer day.

Then I had wonderful lasagnes vegetariennes; these vegetarian lasagne had a great smoky flavour (brought by roasting the vegetables, I guess) that balanced the creaminess of the ricotta cheese.
My fellow lunch-er picked the daurade royale grillée, beurre citron-poivre,
pommes de terre roseval, which although scary-looking (am I the only one to find whole fish on the creepy-side?) was utterly delicious.

As a I-want-to-be-a-pastry-chef person, I had to have dessert – to taste, you know.
I chose a very aromatic pêche rôtie served with glace à la vanille Bourbon and amandes caramélisées. The peach, which is roasted, has a delightfully soft and sweet flesh.

The coupe glacée * : pétale de rose et lychee with gaspacho de framboises was fresh and as you can guess, inspired by Pierre Hermé’s signature entremet: Ispahan.
* I just love the old-fashioned connotation of the words! (I know, I know, useless note, but I had to say it).

As you may imagine, the lunch was seamless. But the day was about to become even better. As I was riding my bike home, I made a détour and stopped by Galignani – a great English bookshop where I bought the Rose bakery cookbook and Skye Gyngell’s book (blame Keiko and all her wonderful articles about the Pertersham Nurseries for that one).
As I was craving to read them, I crossed the Seine to visit le Café de Flore – a favourite for citron pressé, café glace and Mariages Frères teas.
There I had my regular citron pressé, which is basically freshly squeezed lemon juice served with a grande carafe d’eau and some sugar – sooo refreshing.

Now, if everyday resembles that one, how am I going to share with you my foolproof recipe for a perfect tarte au citron meringue [lemon meringue tart], my new exciting idea, the lovely places I discovered during my one-week road trip around les Alpilles, the best risotto ever to be made or even my method for flawless pâte sucrée?
Moreover, I still have an awfully insane number of things to do in Paris. Here is the liste officielle (the real one if much too long for me to tell you; I’m way too ashamed of it):
- buy weird Asian ingredients at chez Tang Frères
- have tea or lunch or brunch at Rose bakery
- buy the most wonderful organic vegetables at marché Raspail
- eat more prawn and chicken Chinese wontons from la Grande Epicerie (and while I’m at it, buy Jean-Yves Bordier’s butter)
- have some falafel at l’As du Falafel
- try Berthillon ice-creams
- go and see Rachel at La Cocotte
- visit La librairie gourmande
- try anything from Sadaharu Aoki
- buy Pierre Hermé’s croissants, croissants aux amandes, brioches… for the upcoming write-up about the two weeks I spent au tour (the post where doughs are made)
And many many many more… Any ideas?

I arrived at the Vaugirard shop, well in advance, around 1.30pm to try my best at doing a good first impression.
I did the usual routine – outfit (self-note: I do look hot in my outfit; well I’m just trying to convince myself and eventually that will happen – ok I’m not kidding anyone: this will never happen but you know, one has to make concessions in order to reach one’s dreams), aprons, hand washing, hand-shaking… And then, I entered the macaron universe.

First, we start by making the ganaches and to tell the truth, I was desperate because, by the time I had finished my one and only ganache – Jasmin, all the other team members had already made at least two different batches.
It is now time to sort the baked coques [literally shells, standing for the shell of the macaron] – all the broken ones are put into a bucket, the baking papers are inverted onto racks and the coques are aligned: 12 in the length and 8 in the width. This might sound easy, but it is quite tiring. After a few hours, I felt like I was a macaron-sorting-machine; I couldn’t even tell the differences of size between the different macarons. So weird to see what strange sensations a tired brain can generate!

Then it’s all about the filling and closing. One – or two – pâtissiers pipe the luscious ganaches onto the arranged coques and it’s my job to close them right after the ganache has been piped. Indeed, ganaches tend to solidify quite quickly (except when the oven gets the room so hot that the ganaches are melting – I have a lovely souvenir of a melting olive ganache and me trying to close the macaron; a disaster, I tell you), thus it’s best to close the macarons quickly so the ganache forms a nice little belly. At this point, it was my favourite part. But then came the Ispahan macarons – read: not only you have to close the macaron but you have to place small sticky squares of homemade raspberry gellant (it’s a kind of fruit jelly that relies on agar agar instead of gelatine or pectin as a solidifying agent) on every single coque before you can actually start to close them. The result is beautiful though. Indeed when you bite into the perfectly round and shiny macaron (and gosh knows how much I loooove to do this) you discover a raspberry-ish surprise.

The addition of little hidden things in the hearts of macarons is Pierre Hermé’s signature: olive oil and vanilla (with two pieces of green olive), Ispahan (raspberry gellant), Mosaic (two griotte halves – hint: this is my personal favourite) and white truffle and hazelnuts (three crushed hazelnuts) just to cite a few. This is, in my opinion a wonderful invention – it places Pierre Hermé’s macarons to another level, a level no one can outdo. While I’m talking about what I love about these macarons I have to tell you that the amount of ganache in each macaron is insane (in a good way) and shows that, here, the focus is on flavours.
Well, it seems I’m (slightly and only slighty) starting to digress, so please let’s go back to the récit of my first day.
Basically when we finished closing the last few macarons (out of approximately 6000-8000) it was already 11pm and I thought I was about to go home. I was wrong; yep, totally wrong – time to clean the laboratoire. This was actually quite enjoyable because I got to clean the fridge and the fact that it didn’t feel that cold in it made me realise how hot I was. Who said making macarons wasn’t a sport?
Speaking of sport (and yes I’m digressing again), if macaron throwing was an Olympic discipline, I would be a serious challenger for the gold medal. Indeed, I did throw macarons all the time during this first day and every time it was totally unwanted. I would bump in the echelle [metallic shelves on which you put the racks of sorted macarons] and a couple of coques would fall on the floor. Alternatively, while throwing the not-perfect coques into the buckets I would send them overboard and they would fall on Loïc (who seems to always be in front of me; and no – sorry – I’m not trying to blame someone else!).
So this was my first day and although it is all true (well slightly exaggerated sometimes, but you know I come from the south of France and we do tend to exaggerate things) I was wrong.
Totally wrong!

Quickly, as I became faster and better, I started enjoying it a lot. And the days after the first one were really far from what I had imagined them to be.
I got to make so many different ganaches, close so many macarons and discover the sweetest people ever, that eventually, when it was time for me to say goodbye I almost cried (hint hint – I am exaggerating but the feelings were there). The whole week seemed like it only lasted a minute and gave me the opportunity to learn how to work fast.
Although I can’t say I am the best macaron maker in the world I did notice an improvement – my moves are now quicker and more confident.

So, yes, you understand I had to reward myself for all the hard work. And what’s better that a selection of the current macaron collection. Hmmm ten different pieces of what is probably referred to as ‘heaven on earth’.
Please do not worry for my stomach – I did not eat them all in one day (though three were enough to finish the gorgeous box). By the way, when you buy the macaron they look far more perfect than the ones below but something unexpected happened in the metro – I dropped my Pierre Hermé bag. I know you’re certainly gasping right now: how could she drop the beautiful laced bag? But sadly it happened and the macarons definitely suffered. They were just as good though ;)

Chocolat amer [bitter chocolate]
Chocolate macaron (the batter contains actual chocolate not cocoa powder) with dark chocolate ganache

This is always the first sort we make – I guess it’s because of the ganache. Indeed, given that it is made with 70% chocolate that contains a great part of coca butter, the amer ganache tends to solidify really quickly and thus, we need to use it before it’s too hard to pipe.
Tasting notes: at first, you get the intense chocolate taste which is then balanced by the slight bitterness.

Mogador
Macaron with milk chocolate and passion fruit ganache

Then we make these, also because of the higher coca butter content of the ganache.
Tasting notes: when I first tried it, I was a bit dubious. But then, it quickly became addictive. Now, the Mogador macaron is probably my favourite. The combination of milk chocolate and passion fruit is simply outstanding – I love how the tanginess of the passion fruit enhances the milk chocolate.

Ispahan
Macaron with rose and litchi ganache and squares of raspberry gellant

Tasting notes: I know most of you won’t believe what I am about to say, but I’m not the biggest fan of the rose and litchi ganache. However, I just love this macaron – maybe not as much as the entremet though; I think the acidic touch brought by the raspberry gellant makes for a perfectly balanced macaron.

Arabesque
Macaron (sprinkled with pistachio) with apricot ganache and a square of pistachio praline

The apricot ganache, which is the one I made the most, is thickened with dried apricots and contains no cream – a pure delight. And let me say one word about the pistachio praline – it is out of this world. I could eat the whole box of it.
Tasting notes: apricot and praline might sound like an unusual combination but it works. The ganache is thick and creamy yet sharp and the chocolate part of the praline round up the flavours nicely.

Café fort [strong coffee]
Macaron with strong coffee ganache

Tasting notes: this macaron looks so pretty. I just love the different tones of brown – c’est chic! The flavour is clean and perfectly balanced. A favourite.

Thé au jasmin [jasmine tea]
Macaron with jasmine tea ganache

Tasting notes: this macaron is very floral and has a distinctive jasmine tea taste.

Caramel au beurre sale [salted caramel]
Macaron with salted caramel crème au beurre [buttercream]

Tasting notes: one word – delicious! Just the thought of the rich caramely crème au beurre makes me drool.

Rose
Macaron with rose crème au beurre

Tasting notes: yummy in pink. This macaron is really fragrant and delicate.

Mosaic
Macaron with pistachio and cinnamon ganache, and two griotte halves

Tasting notes: this is one of my favourites. First it looks pretty. Second it tastes fabulous. The ganache is terrific: I love the hint off cinnamon that enhances the warmth of the pistachio flavour. And the griottes (small cherries) add a balancing sourness.

Olive oil et vanille
Macaron with olive oil and vanilla ganache and two pieces of green olive

Tasting notes: I am a big fan of the olive oil and vanilla combination, and I’m sure that if you still have some doubts about it this macaron will convince you. I love the roundness of the ganache – slightly bitter because of the olive oil yet sweet.

Next week: Let’s go back, back to… the morning team!

Well I know I’m already a week behind my schedules: right now I should be thinking about the write-up about my week at the macaron team or even the tons of articles – that are photo-ready – I have to put online.
However today was a really nice day at the laboratoire and I am so excited that I wanted to share with you.

The first thing is that being back in the morning team is so relaxing – everything goes slowlier than in the macaron team and you can take your time to put together the most wonderful entremets ever to be made.
Then, to my surprise, while I was weighing ingredients for a creme au beurre, I saw a familiar silhouette dans mon coin d’oeil – was it Pierre Hermé? At that exact moment I thought I was just really tired but then he arrived, wearing his perfectly white pâtissier outfit.
I was sooo excited. He is the kindest and most down-to-earth person I’ve ever met and needless to say, he is a genius. We all had breakfast together: the usual bread, butter and strawberry jam plus three luscious cakes from Christine Ferber’s pâtisserie.
I also had half a Tango tart (parmesan, raspberry and red pepper) – it was delicious and the parmesan goes so well with the raspberry.
I also learnt that one of the guy I work with has been in New Zealand. And he appears to be the guy who makes the dough, which is the poste I really want to go. So I’m sure we’ll have a good time – talking about doughs and nz!
And to round-up this awesome day, Marc-Antoine (yep the guy who told me I look gross in my outfit, or well that I looked better when I am wearing proper clothes) told me that I am a nice person who is motivated and very kind. I just blushed and said Merci.

So you know, I had to celebrate; and I did. I bought a Plaisir Sucré (one of my favourite pastries ever). And ok, I’m not going to lie to you, I also bought a Tango tart, a Plenitude entremet and a box of Sablés au chocolat et à la fleur de sel.

Once this first step is checked and I’ve understood how pointless it is to look at myself in the mirror, I can actually go upstairs and meet the chefs. Before that, I have to put an apron – well two actually: a cotton one and a plastic one; but this is only an anticipatory action as I know I tend to get quite dirty (and this is a total euphemism) when I cook.
Then I arrive in the laboratoire, wash my hands and shake everyone’s hands. At this point, I am completely lost. Who is who? Hmmm names, so many different names. Luckily, I’m quite good with names so after a few minutes I am familiar with everyone just like we’ve known each others for years. That’s totally not true though, and the use of vous is here to remind it.

Indeed saying vous instead of tu is like the first basic rule in the pastry shop survival guide.

The second one being to say chaud [litteraly: hot] whenever you’re carrying something (usually really heavy) and not necessarily hot, as the term suggests, and you don’t want anyone to get in the way. Basically, chefs say chaud not to be gross and say ‘dégage’ although the meanings of both words are really close. Once this rule is mastered, you have to start applying it. And believe me it feels quite weird to yell chaud every other minute. Though, it appears to be quite useful because you don’t want to spill 118°C sugar syrup on your boss, do you? Well some of you might – sometimes, but please before doing so you should strongly consider a career change and/or an escape from your country, a face makeover and a name change.

By now it’s just after 6am and I am awake (holly jetlag). Like not just awake – I am widely concentrated on everyone’s moves and there are many many moves. In the morning team, everyone is here to produce all the cakes, entremets, emotions, yeasty treats… with the most dedicated passion.
The variety of tasks makes for the most interesting job. While every member of the team is responsible of a specific area, I wander from poste to poste to help the chef do the tasks they can’t do because of their super-extra-busy schedules.

Thus in one week I got to do many different things: from sorting almonds to prepare candied lemon peels.

I started by weighing the ingredients for the crème onctueuse au chocolat. This was straightforward and was the perfect task to give me confidence on the first day.
However, I was quite – and happily – surprised when the manager told me to go with Simon to decorate the Ispahan entremets.
The Ispahan entremets are definitely one of the it-pastries at Pierre Hermé, so I was really excited to know that I was about to decorate them.
This part was overwhelming – first I had to arrange raspberries on the rose-flavoured buttercream, fill with chopped and fragrant litchis, and then decorate the top macaron by piping a drop of glucose on rose petals and then sticking them, along with some raspberries, on the macaron.

Assembling the Emotions was also a great job. Emotions are Pierre Hermé’s signature desserts presented in glasses and eaten with a spoon – well unless you like to lick your fingers!
I had the chance to make both Emotions Mosaic (griotte jelly, pistachio jelly, pistachio mascarpone cream) and Celeste (rhubarb compote, fresh strawberries, passion fruit and mascarpone mousse, passion fruit marshmallows).
These are entertaining to make (basically I piped a fixed quantity of jelly with a piston into glasses – see Sensations below for more details) and are really yummy. I must say I have a weak spot for the passion fruit guimauves, even though it was a really-teeny (don’t want to sound like I’m complaining because I am not) pain when I had to separate hundreds of them and roll them in icing sugar.

As you might imagine I was happy to get to make so many different things and I was really proud when they actually let me make a whole batch of Sensation Celeste. Sensations are glasses filled with different jellies and generally topped with a macaron.
First, I had to make the rhubarb compote: gelatine, rhubarb purée, lemon juice and sugar, pour a fixed quantity of it into small glasses with a piston, and allow to set before doing the same with both strawberry and passion fruit jellies.

On the same note, I also piped some banana and strawberry jelly into small round shapes for the entremet Désiré, which is totally delicious by the say.

However, I couldn’t do just what I had to and couldn’t restrain myself from peeking here and there. Anna, who I didn’t really get to work with, is responsible for all the treats that have to go through the oven step. Hence, she makes all the brioches, croissants and other yeasty treats. But she also makes the cannelés and millefeuilles.
The cannelés are probably the best ones I’ve ever had: fresh, soft and fragrant.

As for the millefeuille I picked a Mosaic millefeuille because I love the pistachio-cherry combination. This was a real winner: the slight tanginess of the griottes nicely balances the creaminess of the pistachio cream. I can’t wait to work in the dough team because their feuilletage is excellent! Hopefully in two weeks…

Next week: c’est la folie des macarons [it's all about macarons].