When my friend, Sara, invited me to a one day trip to Paris with the sole purpose of eating desserts, I booked my Eurostar tickets before even checking to make sure someone could watch my kids. Sara is a formally trained patisserie chef, and knows her way around the vast city of Paris with a patisserie on every corner.
We hopped on the 8am train from St Pancras, arriving at Gare du Nord just in time for the opening of the famous patisserie, La Pâtisserie du Meurice from the Worlds Best Pastry Chef, Cedric Grolet. Upon making final preparations to open the stunning shop, the staff opened their doors and each staff member greeted us all with a handshake. It was completely adorable and also lovely to see how much pride they put into their work. We tried one of everything, and I suggest you do the same. My favorites were a fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie and an “apple” with a savory apple compote inside. Directly across the street is the Jardin de Tulleries, with benches perfect for digging into the boxes and boxes of patisserie you just purchased.
A quick 2 minute walk away is the delightful Angelina Cafe, home to the famous thick and rich European hot chocolate. I had missed this one on previous trips, so I was happy to finally try it. IT WAS ALL I WANTED IT TO BE AND MORE. The hot chocolate is perfect. I made off with a few souveniers for the little ones at home (including some incredible caramels).
Next, we took an uber to Pierre Hermes on Rue Bonapart and I missed out on the millefuelle because I’m an idiot, but Sara’s looked amazing. Also, pistachio chocolate croissants. I decided on a very good strawberry chocolate tart, but still have millefuelle regrets – and yes, that is apparently a thing.
At this point, I’m beginning to feel my stomach turning on me. Too much sugar. Time to take a break. We walk to a cafe selling something I hadn’t tried before, Praluline – a praline filled brioche – from the cafe, Pralus.
Time for a quick uber ride across town to the 10th, for a walk beside the gorgeous Canal St Martin. If I ever live in Paris, I’m headed straight for the 10th. We stopped into Patisserie Yann Couvreur, home of some highly delicious and instagrammable patisserie. Raspberry and lemon tarts make their way into my hands and once again I miss the millefuelle. Only 50 are made daily. *Le sigh* *C’est la vie*
From here, I swing by the Bensimon shop to pick up a couple pairs of summer shoes, then we walk to the Gare Du Nord. Home by 9pm, bearing the fruits of our labors for my nice husband who “worked from home” with the kids.
If you’ve been following me on instagram, you know that I recently took another trip with friends, where we took the earliest Eurostar out of London and the latest train back. We were able to add on lunch at L’as du Fallafel and breakfast at a favorite, Du Pain et des Idees for the chocolate pistachio snail pastry. Keep an eye out for cheap tickets – Eurostar releases £50 return tickets every season.
