Parisian Patisseries

In the spirit of this week's Bake Off (don't pretend you're not into it) here's a belated post dedicated to the myriad of pastries and patisserie delights I consumed while in Paris in July. Hint: there were a lot of them.

First up were these macarons from a chocolate shop in Montmartre. I have completely forgotten the name of it but it was quite the hot spot for tourists. However, the quality of these macarons were good and I hand-picked a box to take home as a present to my mum and dad for just €16. The rose flavour caught my eye but the real winner was the passion fruit.

On my parents' recommendation I headed to Fauchon – famous for its beautifully decorated eclairs.  But these weren't just pleasing to the eye. I picked a chocolate eclair and it was the most decadent, delicious eclair I have ever eaten. Although smaller and skinnier than the ones you find in Greggs, this was filled with a rich, buttery, chocolate custard and topped with the shiniest glaze, with a sprinkling of gold because, well, it's Fauchon. Size did not matter and this was a rich little treat worth its hefty €6 price tag.

 

Jess had one of Fauchon's macarons – the strawberry flavour – and it was jammy, almondy deliciousness in the crispest shell. Emily from Emily's Recipes and Reviews is always making macarons – my favourite is the crunchie variety.

And as if we hadn't eaten enough, later that day we stopped at Pléiade de Saveurs in Montmartre, a beautiful little boulangerie. I chose the apple tart and it was wrapped for me in their paper in a pyramid to take away.

Have you ever eaten those biscuits that are like palmier? This pastry was as crisp, sweet and buttery as those, but topped with custard, cinnamon and sliced apples – it really doesn't get any better.

So, in case you hadn't already gathered, Paris is the place to go for pastries. On the recommendation of Poppy I also went into Paul's and got a giant chocolate macaron – which, as she said, did taste just like a brownie (but better). 

Do you have a favourite Parisian patisserie? I adored the luxuriousness of Fauchon, but nothing beats discovering an independent shop where everything is hand made with love.

Breakfast at Coquelicot – Montmartre, Paris

You know how much I love breakfast – and on a sunny Saturday morning in Montmartre, where there's a boulangerie on every street corner, I love it even more. Yes, the air was permeated with that smell of freshly baked bread, and the sun-fuelled endorphins were sky high, but Coquelicot could have won me over whatever the weather.

I don't think I could ever give up bread, there's just too much to taste in one lifetime. I wonder what's the secret of French bread? It can't be beat, I know that much. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this anywhere in the UK, have you?

 

Coquelicot had a breakfast deal for about €5 which included a french baguette and a bowl of whatever hot drink you want – I opted for a black coffee and Jess picked the hot chocolate.

And they were actual bowls.

Like cereal bowls. Jess' hot chocolate was the frothiest, creamiest and chocolatiest we had both ever tasted and, size-wise, perfect.

The bread came with jams and butter – blackcurrant and apricot, so, so yum.

And as if the bread wasn't enough I ordered a cravat, too. This beautiful pastry was filled with custard and chocolate chips and lasted me the whole day... and the next day, too. 

We loved Coquelicot so much that we went back on Sunday. The service was friendly although not the speediest or most consistent. However, the food and drink were fantastic and the fact that the waitresses were happy to speak to us in English made the experience one worth returning for - I definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Montmartre. Find out more here.

Le Cafe du Commerce – Montmartre, Paris

After a day of traveling in rising temperatures, cocktails and french fries in a down to earth bar is exactly the remedy. Jess and I had arrived in Paris and wanted to spend our first evening catching up with some good food and drink. I had done a little bit of research and read good things about Le Cafe du Commerce. We wanted something simple in a chilled-out setting and that's exactly what we got. 

First things first: mojitos and moreish salty popcorn (they know how to make their customers stay put). When it's hot and the streets show no sign of slowing down, food and drink tastes about 10 times better. We ordered fries that came piled high on a plate with a fantastic array of condiments on the side.

A few more cocktails later and I ordered some more food because the fries were gone within minutes... yummy mozzarella and tomato skewer with fresh pesto and some french bread. Oh, how I love french bread. We enjoyed all of this on the terrace where we people-watched all night. It was the perfect way to end a week at work and start an adventure in Paris.

 

The food and drink was really great here, and the service was good, too. The staff were so friendly – they could probably tell we were tourists so took the time to come and chat to us, something I've never seen in the UK. Jess even had a photo with one of the waiters. 

If you're in Montmartre I highly recommend a visit to Le Cafe du Commerce. It's a chilled out, unpretentious bar with lots of character and everyone is welcome – at least, that's the feeling we got.
Find out more here or read the review that persuaded me to go in the first place.

A Weekend in Paris

Since Jess and I graduated (she in 2014, I in 2013) we've been talking about traveling and seeking out the cheapest ways to do it. We snapped up a bargain when we went to Paris last month, paying just £69 each for return tickets on the Eurostar. Our Airbnb apartment in Montmartre cost us £25 a night each and it was exactly what we needed in a brilliant location. I would highly recommend Lea to anyone wanting an affordable stay in Paris in a nice, quiet area. I have an entire post coming up all about the food as I couldn't possibly fit it all into one, so for now, here are a few snaps from our short summer trip and a little about what we got up to...

We arrived on Friday afternoon and headed straight up to Sacré-Cœur, on Poppy's recommendation. Poppy lived in Paris for a while and lent me her mapbook of the city which was an absolute necessity during our trip. Once we'd had a wander round the church we were just about dying from the heat so went to get something to eat from a nearby cafe.

 

Peach iced tea and a ham baguette - a typically French (for me, anyway) lunch and in 30°C heat it was spot on.

Later that evening we went down to a bar (which I'll tell you more about next week), drank cocktails and people-watched as the sun went down but the streets got busier.

We were up and out of the apartment by 8am on the Saturday but we had no idea that the French enjoyed a slower start so while we waited for everything to open we had a wander around the quiet streets of Montmartre.

We got the Metro to Madeleine and went to Galeries Lafayette - the most beautiful department store I have ever seen. It reminded me of Bendel's in New York, but this was much, much bigger.

Then, despite being told by a number of people not to bother, we went to the Eiffel tower and had a look at the famous landmark in real life. It was mildly underwhelming but it was pretty cool to see it - it seemed a lot bigger than in all the films I had seen.

By this point I needed an ice cream, and that's when I found this violet beauty. It was the colour, scent and flavour of one of my favourite childhood sweets and was about as big as my head, but I managed to eat (nearly) all of it.

Despite only being in the French capital for 48 hours, we soaked up every last minute of our trip and didn't feel like we missed out on anything. There's a lot I haven't included here because I have separate posts lined up and these will be live very soon. Expect to see french fries, lots of pastries and actual bowls of hot chocolate :)