paris revisited – day 3 (17 dec)

the great bakery hunt.

parisbeing the center of all things pastries and bread, and with nothing scheduled and nowhere to go, i decided to go on a bakery rush of the the top five bakeries as recommended by my lonely planet guidebook (6thedition, to be exact) after a bit of planning after breakfast, i visited the following bakeries in the most convenient order possible by the paris metro network. to best follow, pls get a map of the paris metro so you can trace my way around. (start from jacques bonsergent of line 5)

first: boulangerie de monge (M) censier daubenton, 5arr. supposedly the best croissant place in all of paris. bought one but wasnt overly impressed. it was room temperature, a touch soggy and in need of a little butter. one thing about the shop thats the same as anywhere is its preferred mode of advertising. pasting newspaper articles, food reviews and the such all on the front door. managed to stop and explore the market located in rue mouffetard. one would not expect of a market where everything clumps together in one building. instead the street is lined with shops selling fresh fruit and veg, fish, meat, cheese etc. (by the way, avoid all cheese shops or risk damage to your sense of smell. french cheese shops smell like a pair of mouldy, sweaty socks thatsbeen worn everyday for a month. thats how french cheese would smell like to a singaporean. similarly, thats how a durian would smell like to everyone else in the western world. they have theirs, i have mine.)

second: boulangerie kayser (M) maubert mutualite, 5arr. from this place on, i decided on the modus operandi. go to the bakery shop, take a few photos and then scoot off. if i were to buy one item from each bakery, i would go broke, throw up cause i had a ‘bit’ of a breakfast and just eat myself silly.

third: poilâne (M) sèvres babylone, 6arr; and (M) dupleix, 15 arr. same modus operandi. go to shop, take photo, and leave. note: there’s a great open air market stretching from (M) dupleix to (M) la motte-picquet grenelle selling all kinds of fresh produce, seafood, clothing, second hand goods and the like. also, if you’re looking for cheap foie gras  (you know the duck/goose liver thingy), this is the place to come. the entire market is situated directly under the elevated metro line.

fourth: boulangerie-pâtisserie secco (M) la tour maubourg, 7arr. the hardest of the lot to find. and the longest queue to match.

fifth: la fournée d’augustine (M) pernety, 14arr. the most out-of-the-way bakery. did manage to track it down anyway.

after all the train-taking, and sniffing, and phototaking, and walking, naturally i was hungry. according to my guidebook, there was a famous crêpe restaurant: crêpe bretonne nearby. one thing to note in paris. the shops outsidethe touristy areas do not have very prominent signboards. i actually walked past this crêpe shop twice (!) before finding it. sadly it was closed. i arrived after lunch service and too early for the dinner. so off a bistro nearby. more french food, more cafe au lait. paris, i believe, has more eating establishments per square mile/kilometre than london so you’re bound not to starve. unless you’re a very fussy or picky or a vegetarian.

ended the day with dinner in Leon’s. a chain of restaurants specialising in moules marinieres: mussels cooked belgian style. they have a few variations of this classic belgian dish but i ordered l’original: 800 grams of uncooked, unshelled mussels cooked in white wine, shallots and parsley. this served with “free flow” fries. but since i couldn’t figure out the free flow, i had only one serving like other customers. the time i visited they had a promotion. one serving of mussels, fries “free flow” and one serving of belgian waffles. the waffles were nondescript. nothing special compared to the parisian crepes i had after every dinner. it was just waffles with ice cream and chocolate sauce. the whole bill came to €17.90. ( i think. its been four months). but i do remember leaving €20 on the table.

tomorrow: i will not go to this place. i will not go to this place. i will not go to this place…