Fast forward

Tuesday 13th, which was over a month ago (already!) I went for tea at Ladurée on Rue Royale even though I'd never been crazy about macaron (I however am secretly still obsessing about making thousands of them to sell, and get rich). I chose cassis violette, caramel au beurre salé and pistache... I asked the lady waitress to choose the last one for me, she got me a framboise. They were indeed nice but, what I was blown away with was the vanilla tea. It was beautiful and delicate! That day too I think I had a little pain aux noix from Moisan which was rather good.



The part where I think I'd fast forward is my excursion to Amsterdam. No offense but I thought I should be back into blogging about my baking asap. Anyway, here are some photos I took...





I was back in Paris on Saturday night, and rather sadly I dragged my suitcase to Gare du Nord and took the RER to Roissy and left France on the following Thursday. Here's a little recap of those last few days.

Sunday 18th October - to celebrate my return to Paris, I had a lovely lunch at Ladurée. After some nourishment, I wandered to the Jardin des Tuileries and to the Musée de l'Orangerie.

Les Nymphéas is absolutely b r e a t h t a k i n g.


I love this photo with the boy in orange shirt... after I took this photo I sort of followed him around, hoping to have another shot of him observing other paintings, but after awhile I thought it might alarm his parents.

Monday 19th October - I went to Delmontel on Rue Martyr (9th) and had the best croissant and pain aux chocolat (so far) and a yummy ficelle aux fromage. It's a pretty shop but I nearly missed it. I wanted to go Clotilde's favourite lunch place Rose Bakery just across from Delmontel but it was closed. I also tried to find L'Etoile d'Or but it was also closed.



So I walked towards Les Halles and decided to look for Stohrer on rue Montorgueil, and had the best croissant I had ever eaten. That day I ended up strolling around the 6th / 7th again. I found Pierre Hermé, there was a queue and I couldn't possibly eat another pastry so I only went in and had a look, then walked off to look for Poîlane. I bought a pain aux noix and a chaussons aux pommes. The pain aux noix I could eat whole in one sitting, bloody good! I stopped at half and a bit. The chaussons I had the following morning was also good! would've been better had I had it the day before but still!



As I didn't have much time left, I went nuts and ate so much pastry but I hoped I walked every calories off. Everyday I must have walked equivalent of a demi marathon, surely that's enough exercise.

Tuesday - 20 October. I wanted to go to Delmontel again but Argh! closed on Tuesdays so I crossed the road and bought a quiche from Rose Bakery. I followed the same route as the day before and this time L'Etoile d'Or was open and in I went. Mme Acabo was as charming as everybody says, and yes she had the pigtail hair and tartan skirt. She was having a little tub of chocolate mousse... weight watchers she said, pour ne pas faire grossir... try and she handed me a spoonful. I sort of promised her to send in the articles and photos of her I had seen in my magazines but I hadn't had the time... she has in a cabinet all the various publications featuring her shop that people sent her from all over the world. I bought a couple of chocolates to have with tea and a bag of Henry Le Roux caramel. I didn't buy much but I walked off feeling like I was a precious clientele, Mme Acabo she's lovely. I had both chocolates with tea at cafétier épicier Chez Jean on rue Lafayette, where I bought their eco bag of a bespectacled dog with a newspaper. Feeling refreshed I continued on to look for G.Detou on rue Tiquetonne that intersects with the delightful rue Montorgueil where La Maison Stohrer is, so I went in and bought a pain au chocolat. Mmmm Mmmm...

At G.Detou I bought a tin of pistachio paste (very exciting because I had wanted this for this pistachio ice cream recipe I have) and some poudre de caramel d'Isigny because this caramel au beurre salé thing had become my flavour of the month (my all time favourite is vanilla, bien sûr). I also found another Kayser nearby. (Honestly I hadn't been impressed much by Kayser but was willing to give it another chance) I bought their bread of the month, a loaf of pain aux pistaches-abricots. It was ok, again I wasn't very impressed. That's why even though I saw his book I wasn't particularly interested.



Wednesday 21 October - was my last day :( I had the left over Kayser, then took the metro to Trocadero. I thought people would say I'm crazy if I didn't seek out the Eiffel Tower.



It was drizzling, I took one shot and it was perfect so I left and walked towards the bridges because I wanted to go to the 6th and 7th again. I stumbled across a market on avenue President Wilson, and saw a particularly beautiful and unusual products on a stall where it read Joël Thiébault, I was sure I had heard of him before.. (after I returned I researched a bit and of course from Chocolate and Zucchini).



I found Stéphane Secco on rue Jean Nicot and bought a chaussons aux pommes (which I wolved down in record speed, it was very good, the apple compote had a bit of cinnamon in it, and I was rather hungry) after I finished it I really was going to walk back and get something else from the shop, but then I found another charming looking bakery on rue de Saint Dominique. I crossed the road to have a better look at the sign, and it was the Moulin de la Vierge, so I went in and got a little pain aux tomates/mozzarella and their calico eco bag. The bread was Yummo! I could smell and taste the tomatoes and from time to time got bits of mozzarella. I need to research on tomato/cheese bread recipe because I really liked it.

I was on my way to Le Bon Marché when suddenly as I looked to left and right before I crossed I spotted a Dalloyau. So I went in to get a little croissant. Of course it was good what do you expect? I got another little croissant again later on at la grande epicerie... which was less good. On the same street rue de Sevres, I found Malo and got a chaussons aux pommes, for later.



Then I went to Fnac, and browsed for ages, bought a book 'Cuisine Facile' which turned out to be based on materials from ACP publishing of Australia. Grrrrr I knew I should've bought that Conticini dessert book instead. My last destination that day was supposed to be Pierre Hermé but guess what... I lost track of time in Fnac and arrived at 19.15 and they've closed. At 19.00. Ah well, next time I thought rather somberly... I walked towards St Germain and saw that rue Buci was very lively and strolled along. Carton was still open and I said to myself, last one. I walked out with a little parcel of chaussons au citron.



I had both chaussons the following morning... the one from Malo, good! should've eaten it on the day, would've been better. And do you see what I mean when I mentioned that the croissant from Carton didn't look flash ? Why their chaussons didn't look fancy either, but man! it was so good! even on the following day.

The first few days after I came back, I hadn't the time to bake and I had weetbix for breakfast, Y U C K. But then I started baking again and things have gotten a bit better. Then one day I was feeling melancholic and missed France, I went to Bourke St Bakery and got a croissant for breakfast... was a consolation but, was not great. Said to self, I must must try to make my own. The End.

Come to think of it

I think I got the days mixed up hummm... On Sunday, I did go to Cojean at Bon Marché but I had the poached egg salad, then I was heading towards Musée Rodin and came across la Pâtisserie des Rêves on Rue du Bac (7th). I recognised the name because I was reading about it in the latest Elle à Table, in I went and left with a brioche feuilletée sort of thing, called la folie. Nice! By the way this Phillipe Conticini just published a new baking book called Sensations (if I remember correctly), it is 45 euro, and weighs approximately 2kgs, filled with recipes that I might never practice... still I'm filled with regret not having bought it. That evening I think I bought a baguette from Phillipe Gosselin, somewhere on Rue Rivoli? I think? apparently winner of best baguette in Paris in what 2002 or something. Good! Very Good!

Monday 12 October - I lined up at Opera Garnier, wanting to buy a ticket for Giselle, but after nearing waiting for ages and finally got so close... did I realise that it was a queue for the tour of the Opera. There was a much shorter faster moving pace queue for the performances. (I saw the ballet in the evening, was beautiful. I paid 10 euro for a sit so high up with partly obstructed view. I had to lean to the left crouching then extend my neck, but it was worth it.)

One hour wasted, and I hadn't had any breakfast. So afterwards, I went to Lafayette Gourmand. I didn't actually have much because the hunger was already gone by then. I got a mini croissant from Kayser, but didn't think it was great. Then I walked all the way to St Germain again... and went to Mulot and had the quiche and the tart (see previous entry) au Bon Marché, went next door to la Grande Epicerie de Paris then walked back to the hotel to change and then to the said ballet.



... to be continued.

I'm back

Pink window of Stéphane Secco on Rue Jean Nicot (6th)

hummm... left Paris exactly 2 weeks ago :( and I miss it. I loved wandering around in such a lovely city, with bakeries everywhere... really, so good! I hadn't been to Paris for 5.5 years and I had never spent so many days there that this time I was sad to leave at the end! I hope I could go again soon. Dear Singapore Airlines, please do another great sale asap! I love flying with you and even enjoyed the long flight, and didn't mind the 5 hour transit.

Maybe you had seen this list before somewhere on the big world wide web but here is Le Figaro's list of the best croissant in Paris. (Kind of my itinerary - I ate several pastries a day, everyday, convinced that all the walking would counteract all the calories.)

1 - Pierre Hermé
2 - Triomphe
3 - L. Duchêne
4 - Mulot
5 - Lenôtre
6 - Boul. de Monge
6 - Vandermeersch
8 - Julien
8 - Delmontel
8 - Grande Épicerie
8 - A. Poilâne
8 - M. de la Vierge
8 - Secco
8 - Nicolle
15 - Kayser
16 - Angelina
17 - L'Autre Boulange
17 - Blé Sucré
17 - Fauchon
17 - Martin
21 - Cléret
21 - La Fournée d'Augustine
21 - Maître Pain
24 - La Croissanterie
24 - Carton
24 - Paul
24 - Ladurée
24 - Gana
24 - Dalloyau
30 - Moisan
31 - Stohrer
31 - Malo

So that I could re-read and reminisce, some notes on what I ate and liked... in chronological order.

Day 1 - Saturday 9/10. I arrived in the morning and stayed in the Bastille, that afternoon I found this little place that Clotilde mentioned Le Bar à Soupes. So I had lunch there, it was quite nice... I had a bowl of carrot soup and a slice of homemade citrus tart.... near Place des Vosges I came across a Lenotre but I didn't go in because I was still full. After hours of walking around though, I came across Carton on Rue Buci (6th) so I had my first croissant. Honestly it didn't look too flash, but surprise surprise! it was very good.
Day 2 - Sunday 10/10. I went to the organic market on Boulevard Raspail, then as I wondered around Boulevard St Germain I found a pink delivery car that says Gerard Mulot, 76 Rue de Seine. Ha! Just around the corner so there I went. The window is so lovely, really exquisite I think. I bought a slice of quiche, and a sugar plum tart.


The quiche was yummo... I decided to hold on to the tart until I find somewhere to have tea. So lucky because I was there around the time sale started, not that I cared much about the sale, but then Le Bon Marché was open exceptionally on that Sunday. I was excited first and foremost because I was dying to go to toilet actually. Relieved I then went on browsing around the book section, next to the cook book section I found a Cojean.
So I ate my tart there with a cup of tea. It was really nice but not as lovely as I thought it'd be... the plum on top though were beautiful. Really.

... to be continued