Macarons!

Here's a topic that I've wanted to discuss for a while. I recently made the realization that there is no such thing as the best macaron in the world. There are designer ones with exotic, unheard of combinations of flavors, chewy and slightly stale macarons, macarons that have been overbaked or underbaked, macarons with sloppy fillings, large and small macarons tinted with hues of robin's egg blue or autumn poppy, but it's hard to say that one is truly better than another because they all have their own charm. A macaron from a patisserie where the owner still has hair-curlers in if you go early enough doesn't taste quite like a Pierre Herme creation, but that's okay because it doesn't try to be anything more than it is- a cheap little macaron. My conclusion is that Jesus does in fact, love all the macarons in the world.

Now it's about time for some pretty pictures.

The little patisserie closest to our hotel. This also happens to the place where the aforementioned owner looks sort of funny before 8 am :P

The freshly baked selection.

Ah baguettes!

The weather was pretty horrible the day that we went (freezing cold rain mixed with ice if you were wondering), but the line outside Pierre Herme was still fairly long. I guess it's a good indication of what people will endure to obtain his macarons.

The display case with not even the trace of a fingerprint. Is it even possible to make fingerprint-resistant glass?

His wonderful cakes and their horrible price tags. If I ever became a patisserie robber this would probably be the first place I would hit up.

Pierre Herme's crowning glory- the Ispahan! It's a flavor combination of rose, raspberries and lychees that he invented as a young man.





And finally, the macarons! Just look at the craftsmanship!

AFter Pierre Herme we visited Laduree.

This was the only photo that I managed to capture of the pastries at Laduree before an angry woman with a polka-dotted bow told me to put my camera away. Needless to say, the people at Laduree weren't as nice as the ones at Pierre Herme.

The rose and pistachio macarons from Laduree...the pistachio was slightly chewy but the taste of almonds combined with pistachios was quite nice, and the rose was perfect.

The wasabi and grapefruit (wasabi cream and grapefruit confit) macaron and the eglantine, fig and foie gras macaron (fig cream with fragrance from the eglantine flower and foie gras jelly. The first macaron was tart with a slight spiciness but the second...oh dear. I don't think I ever want to taste flowery foie gras mixed with fig ever again.

We also got the mont blanc from Laduree and the Ispahan from Pierre Herme but my photos didn't come out too well so I won't post them here.

Pains et Passion
On the avenue d'italie, a stone's throw from the maison blanche metro stop

Pierre Herme
72, Rue Bonaparte


Laduree
21, Rue Bonaparte