Your
October letters went out a tad late this week PBers. Please forgive.
Boulangeries are like warm, glowing ovens early in the morning on Paris streets.
If you arrive when they open the chef himself may serve you and he won't make a fuss if you don't have the right change.
Fall colors make me think of viennoiserie..croissants, chausson au pomme, pain au chocolat, chouquettes. Nice companions for warming cups of chocolate when the weather gets chilly. And it is chilly now in Paris.
Do you know
Au Petit Versailles du Marais? At
27 rue François Miron 75004
Petit Versailles is one of those older charmng
boulangeries that have kept their 'ballroom' decor. Glass chandeliers, elaborately painted ceilings, relief work on the pillars.
Quite the grand setting for your morning coffee break.
The classic
croissant au beurre is a descendent of the Austrio-Turkish wars and shaped like the Turkish crescent,
making the croissant not even French!
Yesterday's leftover
croissants become today's delicious
croissant amandes. Crispy on the outside, sprinkled with slivered almonds, powdered sugar and in the middle lush almond paste.
Why did I think a
palmier was OK to eat for breakfast? It is not.
Chef Marthe set me straight.
Palmiers are for teatime in France.
Still I was awfully tempted when I read about
Le Figaro's best ever palmiier. (We called them Elephant ears where I come from. It does seem visually more appropriate.
Madeleines too are for tea time. Never for breakfast. Besides they are not made from the same flaky
pate viennoise like the others.
Lenotre Bastille's window has a sign that nails it, informing you which may be eaten for breakfast and which for tea time. Ah ha!
FYI They have the best
pain au chocolat (2€) in town according to L
e Figaro.
I set out to paint the best of each breakfast
viennoiserie in Paris for
October's Sketch letter. Only later did my copy shop pals tell me I'd misspelled
viennoiserie in the art. Too many SSs. French!
If you decide to
subscribe to the Paris maps or the sketch letters or renew your subscription a calorie-free
croissant original watercolor awaits. Me, I shall be running off my 'Michelin woman' figure from eating too many
viennoiseries. That's life in Paris PBers.
I set out to paint the best of each breakfast viennoiserie in Paris for October's Sketch letter. Only later did my copy shop pals tell me I'd misspelled viennoiserie in the art. Too many SSs. French!
If you decide to subscribe to the Paris maps or the sketch letters or renew your subscription a calorie-free croissant original watercolor awaits. Me, I shall be running off my 'Michelin woman' figure from eating too many viennoiseries. That's life in Paris PBers.
My mother adored palmiers.
ReplyDeleteI would love to step into Au Petit Versailles Du Marais..tout de suite.
Oh I love that place..inside out.
I don't think the error is that apparent..Our eyes are more taken w/ the whole artwork..I am so into finding misspelled words on boxes..ads etc..I am terrible..
I did not even notice.
Many many books I have read.. of English authors writing about their stay in Paris..weeks or months or years..often..IN the book..misspelled words..you pay more attention because there is no artwork in back of the words..and you are concentrating on READING:)
I love this piece..s of yours.
I am the queen of typos and my kids tell me all the time..one is a tad like me and it is quite amazing we read each others words and understand what we meant.
You would adore these older boulangeries I'm sure Monique. The chef is an MOF, Christian Vabret, so not only is it super pretty but their product is excellent. So different from the haute couture patisseries decked out in dark brown with ultra-moderne decor. I'll take a boulangerie every time.
DeleteWell now it is on my wishlist.I am going to ask my daughter if she went there.
DeleteOooooo…this month's letter looks delicious! It's just what I need, too. The days are getting cooler and the nights are brisk, and when I settle in for my afternoon tea I'm going to prop up my framed October letter and I'll be in Paris, sipping une tasse du the francaise.
ReplyDeleteYou now, here on Long Island the Xmas and Hannukha decorations are already out… which reminds me that your Paris Letters make the perfect holiday gift for every Francophile. That means my shopping is done for at least five on my list!
So nice to see my "neighborhood" boulangerie made it onto the Top 10 list for palmiers--Vandermeersch--right across the street from the hotel where I always stay--Hotel de la Porte Dorée (both on av Daumesnil in the 12th). I would have tried their palmiers if only this post had come out yesterday, or the day before. Now I will have to wait until April! Perhaps I can get our assistant cook/baker Adel to try them. He does a pretty mean croissant, especially for Egypt!
ReplyDeleteEvery time I have gone out there he is closed. He is tops for Kugloff too(sp)
DeleteI love those twilight shots of the store fronts. The pastries, too, off course!
ReplyDeleteI know...it is getting dark here so early in e morning.
DeleteSame here! Summer's gone.
DeleteJust delicious.
ReplyDeleteLove your "Paris Breakfast" photos...been following you for quite a while now. Would love to see similar photos of where you live now! These photos make me hungry!
ReplyDeleteThe boulangerie with the shades drawn and then open is around the corner from me as is the running Michelin Man. au Petit Versailles de Marais is a 6 minute walk from my house, so you are in my quartier
DeleteI love palmiers (and I will continue to eat them for breakfast) because I love crunch. Just put Au Petit Versailles du Marais on my list for next time - this is the second time this week I've seen a recommendation for it.
ReplyDeleteCarol, this particular post has a special intimate insight into the early morning hours of Paris. To visit a boulanger and to purchase a freshly baked wonder from the baker himself/herself, is rather wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIn the past week, I have begun to rely more on my alarm clock since there is not insistent light outside my window until after 7. The season has changed!
Palmiers sound so much more elegant thant Elephant Ears, yet I will still think of these treats (at any time of the day) by the EE name I first knew.
xo
Pitch dark here even at 7:30 :((
DeleteDid I already complain?
while I can buy pain au chocolate and madeleines here in Baltimore, they cannot compare to those in the City OF LIGHTS!!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Carl Marletti?.....it's opposite the little park at the end of Mouffetard which has accordion music, vocals and dancing Sunday mornings
ReplyDeleteIn the OCTOBER MAP Letter Carl Marletti will be featured.
DeleteComing soon to your mailboxes PBers!!
But that palmier was smiling at you. You had to do it!
ReplyDeleteMiam miam! I want to be there! I think that boulangerie is right next to my apartment on la Rue St. Louis en Ile....June is too far away!!
ReplyDeleteThat would be too close for comfort for me!
DeleteTheir chausson au pomme hot out of the oven is Divine!!
Brought back so many fragrant memories...thank you, admit i would eventually look like the blue & white photo at end of blog if i ate all that you showed so tastily...
ReplyDeleteIt's a daily battle not to turn into the Michelin Man in Paris!! :((
DeleteI have not been to Paris in years. Thanks to you I can enjoy it vicariously. Your mentions drinking warm chocolate with the wonderful French breads. In the US over the last few years we greet autumn (even here in the San Francisco Bay Area where the temps are still in the 80s and 90s) with pumpkin-spiced latte. In fact, there is pumpkin everything. Wouldn't the pumpkin color look beautiful with the boulangeries full of wonderful breads you pictured?
ReplyDeleteI Really miss pumpkin everything in Fall in Paris :((
DeleteN'existe pas
Yummy pastries! Lovely twilight shots of the store fronts!
ReplyDelete