Paul Boulangerie

Petit Dejeuner, watercolor, 9" x 11 1/2"

Melissa asked me, would I please visit the chain a boulangerie/patisserie this trip. Since it was right across the street from my hotel on rue de Seine, I had petit dejeuner there.

*Note the petit dejeuner is called "Le Parisien"

I do have a problem with the French insisting on calling Danish pastries, "Viennoiseries" I took this up with Merisi from Vienna, but I forget her response

Paul Boulangerie has set up this demo tray in the entry so you know what your getting.I think in fact I went all out and got "Le Continental" = The Works.
When C. emailed me in Paris requesting I bring her back boxes of French chocolate,
my immediate response was,
NON! NINE, NIENTE, NADA, DE JEITO NENHUM (Portuguese for NO WAY!)
My bags are filled with what Marcel Proust calls Remembrances of Things Past..True, I do bring back empty chocolate boxes, but that's for still life usage.Do Paris cafes have my picture up? WANTED DEAD or ALIVE for stealing sugar cubes etc.
Paul Petit Dejeuner, watercolor, 9" x 11 1/2"

M. says many cafes no longer put their name brand on glasses etc, like Cafe de Flore, so they won't find a new home. The spoon is from Italy by the way...The dining area.

I love the use of old graphics and typography on their outdoor signs..

Gérard Mulot

If you arrive in Paris on a Monday you're almost out of luck.

Most chocolatiers and patisseries take off Sunday/Monday.

I was adrift after my long flight and even longer AF bus ride into town

(take the RER train next time !)
To find both J-P Hévin AND Pierre Hermé closed...
But Gérard Mulot is the wonderful exception :)

Wandering aimlessly after my initial disappointment I stumbled on Mulot on 76, rue de Seine: no shuttered gates, open and full of goodies.

To buy something, you pick out your items, get a numbered ticket, go wait on line at the cashier and then return to get your pink box.

Often at 8am after swimming at the pool just down the street, I'd pop in to buy something to paint and something to eat. They have delicious take-away meals also - complete plates and weighed out by the gram.

My pink Mulot box.

Gerard Mulot petit four, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

If you arrive in Paris on a Wednesday

DO NOT make a B-line to Gerard Mulot's.

Wednesday is Children's Day in France -> a no-school day and Mulot is closed, possibly staying home with les gosses (the kids).