Paris Patisseries: Pierre Herme - Round Two.

This Pierre Herme patisserie is in a slightly swankier part of town than the first one I went to and looks very different. While the front of the other one is all glass and the inside is bright and colourful, the window of this one serves as a display case, which is filled with pitihivers.

The interior of this one is much darker, all the fittings and fixtures in a dark brown wood. Another difference - the first store was happy to let me take pictures, this one, not so much. I managed to snap a couple of photos as I walked in the door before someone asked me to stop. Booooo!

I want one of everything, but neither my wallet nor my stomach could handle that, so I settle on three individual sized pieces:

~ Ispahan: rose macaron, rose cream, raspberry and lychee

~ Infiniment vanille: pate sablee, vanilla white chocolate ganache, vanilla mascarpone cream

~ Infiniment citron: pate sablee, lemon cream, candied lemon zest, lemon jelly

It's cold and rainy back on the street, so I jump on the Metro and head for the hostel so I can get stuck into these little beauties.

Being that in the past year or so I had become more-than-normal obsessed with the wonderfulness that is lemon, I go for the lemon tart first (Infiniment citron). Pierre Herme's lemon cream is the stuff dreams are made of. It's smooth and tangy and I want more. Actually, I want to dive into a sea of the stuff. Come to think of it, that is how I want to go out - drowning in a sea of PH's lemon cream. How big does a body of liquid need to be to be considered a sea?

Next up, is the Infiniment vanille.

I love this one. I know plenty of people say vanilla is, well so vanilla, but not so. Vanilla, when done right, rocks. This is done right. A short pastry, creamy filling and a beautiful vanilla perfume throughout. Hellooooooo lover.

And finally, the Ispahan.

This one is the prettiest of the bunch. It comes in a little gold fluted case and it looks just lovely. The flavours and textures of this one just go so well together. The raspberries are tart and juicy which is good alongside the sweet lychee (I'm still in awe of how good all the produce that I came across was in France, don't even get me started on the mandarins I had over there). You get the smooth from the rose cream and the crunchy from the macaron shell.

Happiness is....

Paris Patisseries: Pierre Herme - The Maiden Voyage.

Pierre Herme - Le Roi de Macaron. A fourth generation baker who began his apprenticeship at the age of 14. Legend in the world of pastry.

I've spent countless hours reading about him and his creations on the internet and in books. I searched for months for his out of print 'Macaron' book and jumped for joy when I finally found one that I could afford (and it is still probably the most expensive cookbook I own, and using it requires translating first, since it is entirely in French).

There are two Pierre Herme patisseries and for my first trip I head to the one on rue de Vaugirard in the 15th arrondissement.

The store is gorgeous. The display cases are modern and colourful and hold the beautiful works of pastry art that Herme is famous for. The back wall is is covered in the names of the creations and the ceiling is wallpapered with the logo. It's spectacular.

I see some difficult choices in my future.

The pastry case

The chocolate case

The macaron case

I'm not entirely sure I'll get one of these through customs.

Decisions, decisions. My head hurts. I think the cure for that might be a box of 12 macarons. I get one of every flavour and double up on a few that I know will be winners. They are:

~ Milk chocolate & passionfruit

~ Salted caramel

~ Rose

~ Chocolate

~ White truffle and hazelnut

~ Chestnut and matcha green tea

~ Coffee

I already know that I'm going to be visiting the other Pierre Herme patisserie so I decided that this enough for today - I don't want to overwhelm myself.

Now for the verdict. The trip to the patisserie itself was fantastic. It's so pretty and my little bag of goodies from there just felt so precious to me. Too precious to just crack them out on the Paris sidewalk. I waited until we were back at the hostel later that day before I try my first macaron. I've heard so many good things about the milk chocolate and passionfruit one, so it was always going to be my first. Can I just say for a combo that I had never thought of together - holy crap it was good. The shell was so light and crisp and the ganache was so smooth and packed some serious flavour punch. It was so good that I had to let someone know about it, so instead of selfishly keeping the other for myself, I made Libby eat the other (she loved it).

The other clear favourites are the salted caramel and the rose.

It took me a while to get through them all (since a couple of days later I added to the pile with some from Laduree) and I'm still munching on macarons when I get back to Toronto!

An Australian Girl in Paris - Part Une

Today's post title is brought to you by Sex and the City.

So, as much as I enjoyed Amsterdam and despite the fact that we've had to wake up at a very uncool hour of the morning, I cannot (and will not) hide my excitement at the fact that today is the day I will arrive in Paris. Yes, Paris, France.

I've got a list of places I want to hit as long as my arm. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fit it all in (both time and stomach wise). Not to worry, I'll just have to come back again (and again) to see the things that I don't fit into this trip.

We're on the train bright and early for our 2 hour train trip to from Amsterdam to Paris. We end up sitting opposite a really nice guy from New York, Jonah, who is also headed to Paris. Jonah runs a charity back in New York, working with kids in the city. He's heading to Paris to attend some courses and for a bit of a holiday. We chat for most of the trip.

We arrive in Paris, say 'au revoir' to Jonah, transfer to the Metro and head for our hostel. Located in the 19th arrondissement on Quai de la Seine, St Christopher's Hostel is brand-spanking new and has quite a view. The Quai de la Seine is a 900m long dock located along the Bassin de la Villette (part of the Parisian canal system). So, while we're not overlooking the Seine, we're pretty happy with our digs and the view.

It's mid-afternoon by the time we're checked in and ready for the adventure to begin. We jump on the Metro and head to the 4th arrondissement, which is both the gay and the Jewish area of the city. I've heard there is an awesome felafel to be had at 'L'as du fallafel' and going by the size of the line out the front I'm not the only one. They are so busy that there is a guy walking up and down the line taking orders before you even get to the counter.

The felafel is insanely good. The felafel balls are so crispy, the salad fresh and crunchy and the yogurt sauce is the perfect tangy topping. It's also a pretty good size and only 5 euros. Happy belly.

For the rest of the night we just walk. I know I'm far from the first and I definitely won't be the last to say so, but Paris is just gorgeous. I can hardly believe that little old me is finally walking its streets.

Hotel de ville

We wake the next day and Libby is sick as a dog. It's decided that she's not well enough to be out in the cold so I venture out alone. I really wanted to go and check out the equipment/ingredient shops on Rue Montorgueil in the Les Halles area and since Libby wasn't really all that interested in things like croissant cutters and weird and wonderful types of chocolate, it made sense to go on the day she was out of action.

I had been wanting to go to G. Detou since reading all about it on David Lebovitz's website. A bakers dream, stocking incredible quality chocolates, nuts and all sorts of baking goodies. Sadly, it wasn't to be. I arrived to find the roller shutters locked tight. I couldn't work it out, it was a Monday at 11am. Turns out, while it was the 3rd January, the 1st had fallen on a Saturday, so Paris was taking its public holiday on this, the following Monday. Bummer dude.

Most of the other shops of interest on Rue Montorgueil were also closed, but a couple of grocers and bakeries were open.

The bakery windows in Paris are amazing. There is such effort put into the displays and presentation. I could stand in front of them for hours, just looking.

The produce also looks spectacular. I can also confirm that it tastes pretty amazing too! Later that day I buy a few mandarines at another store and they are unbelievably good. I don't bother with mandarines back home since I rarely get one that is worth the effort of dealing with peel, pith and pips. I picked these up as I thought they'd be a good thing for Libby to eat with her cold. They didn't stick around for long!

After seeing all I can, consulting my map and thinking about what will be open, I settle on the Musee d'Orsay. I grab a sandwich from bakery chain 'Paul' for later and head off.

The Musee d'Orsay offers more disappointment. It's closed on Mondays. Jeez.

I cross the road and look out over the River Seine and consult the map again. I work out that if I follow the river I'll eventually end up at the Eiffel Tower. I have a plan.

On the way, I come across Pont Alexandre III, which is a beautiful arch bridge that crosses the Seine.

This has to be the most extravagant bridge in the world. Each side has these amazing lamp posts every few metres.

There is also the odd cherub, nymph and winged horse thrown in for good measure... You know, as you do.

And, just in case you didn't believe that I was really there, I conveniently have some photographic evidence!

Lunch - wooohoo!!!

After lunch, I continue my walk along the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower, catching little glimpses of her here and there and then all of a sudden...

It's huge, spectacular and very, very busy. It's a public holiday, a Monday and there is a comet set to zoom by any minute (OK, I made this last thing up, I'm still a little miffed that almost everything is closed) so it is possibly the only thing open. Since I know I'll be back I walk around a little and then keep moving to check out the rest of the hood.

The buildings in this area are particularly spectacular and I found the building where I'm going to live when I move to Paris. I'm sure rent is only about a billion dollars a week.

Can't you just see me out the front, red and white striped shirt, navy peacoat, baguette under one arm, walking a small white fluffy dog? One day.

All the walking and daydreaming has made me a bit peckish. Better stop for an afternoon treat. One of the greatest things about Paris and something that I didn't expect at all, is that there are so many patisseries and boulangeries. I mean there are the famous ones, Pierre Herme, Laduree etc... But there are also just the regular neighbourhood ones. Seriously, I would turn a corner and there would be another one. Every one that I happened to step into had quality stuff. I'm sure there must be a couple of dodgy ones, but for the most part, since there is a lot of competition, the overall quality is pretty high.

In this particular patisserie, a small raspberry tart caught my eye.

It's a sable breton base filled with creme diplomat and topped with fresh raspberries - absolutely delicious. The sweet treat recharges my batteries and I keep on walking until dusk. Another trip on the Metro and I'm back at the hostel to check up on Libby and make an action plan for the next day.