Pastry and chocolate shops are probably one of the things I love most about France. In Paris, they are everywhere and it's so difficult not to stop when I'm on holiday there: I just want to catch up on all the pastries I missed since I left...
Anyhow, one of my greatest guilty pleasures is eating French macarons and if you follow this blog you know that I take macaron eating very seriously. If you love them as much as I do and ever visit Paris, you absolutely have to visit one of Pierre Hermé's shop.
Pierre Hermé is such a super talented French pastry chef, even Vogue called him 'The Picasso of Pastry". He first opened a shop in Tokyo in 1998 after working for the luxury brand Ladurée and in 2001 his first boutique in Paris was launched. His unusual flavour combinations, macarons, chocolates and pastries revolutionised the world of modern pastry-making.
There are a few shops in Paris but since I love St Germain-des-Prés so much it made sense to visit the branch on rue Bonaparte. It was quite packed but the service is excellent and you don't really have time to chose what you want before a staff member takes your order.
It's quite an overwhelming experience for me to queue for pastries, I almost salivate over the display, can't make my mind up and then get stressed when I have to tell the staff what I want.
The pastries are so amazing looking that they are almost too pretty to eat. They aren't cheap but imagine the time spent making them.
One of Pierre Hermé's signature cake is the Ispahan, a Rose macaron biscuit filled with rose petal cream, whole raspberries and litchis. They have the big version and mini ones with a fancy box to take them away in.
They also sell chocolate, lots of it.
But I was there for their beautiful macarons, which I was already familiar with.
The choice of flavours is extensive and like nowhere else. Some are divine, some others a bit peculiar but that's just a question of personal taste.
I love the salted caramel macaron, the Mogador (milk chocolate and passion fruit) and the Miléna (fresh mint and red berries).
I bought a box and enjoyed the little beauties at the terrace of a cafe with Mr. FFID, admiring people's sense of fashion and pretending I was living in Paris again.
This one was particularly pretty...
This one too, it's a pity I had to share it...
Did I mention I just love macarons?
I also had a Ispahan croissant, just for the road and to heal my pastry shop nostalgia before going back to Dublin... Then I found out that I can order their macarons online and I was delighted.
Pierre Hermé
72 rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
Online shop
