by Isabella Sharipova-Williams, published 11th May 2024
Controversial opinion: Paris is a nightmare. Paris is a nightmare for lovers, a nightmare for artists, and a nightmare for sweet-teeth. There’s simply too much choice for where to go, what to paint, and what to eat! And especially what to eat. Very, very much what to eat. You can’t walk a mile without encountering at least 10 different bakeries and chocolate shops, each one looking as good as the other! Oh là là ! What is one to do?
Never fear, friends, for HER has compiled the list of their very favorite bonnes adresses to help you resolve this desperate dilemma.
The macaron. Small. Light as air. Elegant. Comes in such a variety of flavours.
I mean, SUCH a variety of flavours.
My dearest people, you have not lived before you encounter all of the fantastical combinations of beautiful savours and flavours that the Picasso of Pastry has juxtaposed behind glass screens, just a box away from you (and there are a variety of gorgeous boxes available, too).
He is constantly reinventing the wheel (curry and praline, anyone?) with his limited-edition collections, but there are a few constant favourites. The best, of course, is the Ispahan, raspberry and lychee married with rose, a match Hermé has also recreated in black tea, which you can buy by the box or tin. Another sweetheart is the Mogador – a colourful kiss of passionfruit and milk chocolate, sealed with ganache. Monsieur Hermé has not simply limited himself to macarons and tea (which are excellent for 4pm in themselves) – you can also buy ice cream, chocolate, cake, biscuits, and now even cookery books from any of his shops in Paris, of which there are, conveniently, quite a few! There is one shop very conveniently close to our Jardins de Luxembourg apartment, and the Church of Saint-Sulpice! It is located at 72 Rue Bonaparte, in the 6e arrondissement.
Owner Bernard Vidal’s personal recommendation with regards to chocolate are the creations of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (2000) award-winning chocolatier and sculptor Patrick Roger. The chocolates are exquisite, and absolutely the thing to buy if you want to make a discerning someone a truly special present. He has a boutique very close to that hidden gem, the Musée Jacquemart-André, walking distance from our Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe and Parc Monceau apartments, at 225 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in the 8e arrondissement. There are two others: one in 3 Place de la Madeleine, and one on 45 Avenue du Victor Hugo in the 16e arrondissement.
(Just to say – the Musée deserves another special mention because it boasts one of the most beautiful tea-rooms in the whole of Paris.)
The Procope is the oldest café in the city, having in its time served the likes of Voltaire, Diderot, and Figaro trilogy author Beaumarchais. If you want a slice of history, and a really good hot chocolate, (or some of their famous ice cream) far from the mile-long queues to Angelina, it would be a crime to overlook! The Café is located on the 13 Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie in the 6e arrondissement, in the neighborhood of St Germain Luxury.
Another personal favorite of Bernard’s are the pastries of Monsieur Cyril Lignac. Well-loved classics are given a chic and zesty contemporary twist. Lignac’s excellence is so indisputable that at Christmas his shops are obliged to send double-decker vans out, packed to the roof with the coveted dainties! He has 5 patisseries in Paris, including one on 55 Boulevard Pasteur in the 15e arrondissement, near the Artist’s Loft.
It is no secret that France’s foremost national treasure is their art of baking – however, it is often inaccessible to those who seek to avoid wheat. Copains has leapt over this hurdle with style, offering an expansive range of gorgeous gluten-free and alternative flour pastries and breadstuffs, all of which are also organic! They have many addresses over the city, but their newest (and hippest) address is at 22 Rue Toudic in the 10e arrondissement, a 15-minute walk away from the Rue de Paradis.
This Lebanese ice cream parlour is not to be missed! It boasts eleven different (organic) flavours, and two establishments – one in Rambuteau (58 rue Rambuteau in the 4e arrondissement), and the other in Montmartre (7 Rue Tardieu in the 18e arrondissement), not far from our property of the same name.
Special Mention : Les Deux Abeilles
Another really sweet family-owned tea-room that I discovered in my incredible chance meeting with a famous book translator (so it is a sentimental lieu de mémoire – sweet in another way!). They serve all a manner of teas, coffees, and cakes, and a beautifully thick hot chocolate with cream. It is so far from the beaten track that it doesn’t have a website I can provide you the link to! However, it is located on 189 Rue de l’Université in the 7e arrondissement in Paris, and is open from 9am until 7pm. It could well be your daily tea fix if you are staying in our Eiffel Tower, Alma, or Seine apartments, or if you are visiting the Musée du quai Branly.
As you are now satiated in your cravings for information (we hope), go boldly forth and conquer! Bonnes dégustations !