Voila! I give you my favorite french pastry – the Saint-Honore. I first had this dessert by accident. I saw it everywhere, and it looked like a boring combo of whipped cream and choux. WRONG.
It is actually a puff pastry base, ringed with cream puffs (which are filled with pastry cream, or creme patissiere in French). The cream puffs are dipped in caramelized sugar, which gives is a super satisfying crunch. The traditional shape is a circle or crown (shown below), and in the middle of the creme puffs will be creme chiboust (the name of the bakery where the Saint-Honore was invented), which is pastry cream with whipped cream mixed in to “lighten” it up (what a concept). Then the whole thing is topped with whipped cream.
Here are a few photos to get you in the right frame of mind for appreciating Saint-Honore’s superior position in the pastry rankings.
Don’t get this one from Laduree
Winner! Patissserie des Reves
A good option
Yum! From a random patisserie
I think it is so delicious because it has all kinds of textures – flaky, crunchy, and three different kinds of creamy. And a caramel, vanilla, butter flavor profile is never a bad thing.
According to my wikipedia research, Saint Honore is the patron saint of bakers. The dessert was invented in 1847 at a bakery on Rue Saint-Honore, which you fashionistas will know because it’s where all the fancy fashion houses are.
There it is! Fancy fashion part is the circled area.
The very best Saint-Honore I’ve tasted was from Fue de Patisserie (remember the place that ships in all the best pastry from around town). Unfortunately, I can’t remember the chef and they won’t always have it, but if you want really good Saint-Honore, I’d start there.
Another winner is Patiserrie des Reves. Shown above. They only make the Saint-Honore on weekends, so be strategic. I haven’t tried it myself, but my pastry instructor said Hugo & Victor has a really good version as well.
As soon as I find myself a suitable kitchen, I’m gonna start practicing making these babies. So if you don’t have plans to get to Paris soon, you just need to wait until I get good at them, and return to the U.S. Maybe just plan the trip to Paris.
Maybe you are curious about what we do everyday? Before I left my firm for this trip, one of the partners kept saying to me, “I would get bored after a week!” Nope. Hasn’t happened yet!
As Dan likes to say, “this is not a vacation.” So, we (Dan) try to treat the weekdays like work days, and the weekends like weekends. We aren’t super strict about it. For example, we went to Versaille on a weekday to avoid the crowds. And today, a Thursday, is Alice’s birthday, and you cannot work on your pug’s 12th birthday, so we are taking her to the Eiffel Tower to celebrate.
A month into the trip, here is what an average weekday has been looking like. With some asides by moi.
We get up between 7-8 a.m.
I set a goal to consistently get 8 hours of sleep. I am doing it, it’s wonderful, and much easier to accomplish when you do not have a job.
First, we usually work out.
I set another goal for myself to workout every day. The definition of “workout” is flexible, but generally it involves obsessively tracking the rings on my Apple Watch and making sure I hit the move and exercise goals. The stand ring is a joke, Apple.
Next, we go to a co-working space or cafe and do some work. The co-working spaces are neat. You pay by the hour to use the space, and they provide free espresso and snacks!
“Work” is a loose term for me, but it generally means writing, working on projects for a wonderful legal non-profit, Advokids, and researching lunch options. I did just receive materials for my horticulture course, so I gotta start studying, and I’m a little concerned how it will fit into my busy schedule. Dan actually does work.
Lunch is between noon and 1 p.m.
Then Dan goes back to work for the afternoon, and I either come home to hangout with Alice (nap), walk around town exploring, or hunt down random things I get obsessed with like pet stores, bakeries, red lipstick, headbands, and leopard print garments (the last three are essential if you want to pretend you are a French lady).
I make dinner most weeknights. That has been really fun. Paris has unbelievable produce! We San Franciscans think we have it good, but this is a whole different ball game. I’ll blog more about what I’ve noticed about food later.
Here are a couple dinners from this week that I’m proud of.
Okay, I know they are basically the same meal, but one has carrots and the other has white asparagus (which just showed up at the markets this week), and I wanted to show you both (and prove that I am capable of eating vegetables).
After dinner, we usually talk about how we can’t wait for Game of Thrones to start on April 14, complain that it hasn’t started, and then we watch old GOT episodes, while I do the crossword and Dan does Dan stuff. So this portion of the day is exactly like our life in SF.
Hello Internet Friends (or the one reader we have, Kathryn, much appreciated),
Left to my own devices I would write only about food — primarily carbohydrate-based food — and flowers. And Dan and Alice can’t really be bothered with blogging about their shared passion, engineering. I’m betting we need more of a variety to topics . . . .
So tell me what you want to know about locations we are in, and life abroad after quitting your job in your mid-30s!
xoxo, Lauren
P.S. I will keep blogging about desserts, regardless.
We’ve been in Paris for a little over three weeks, and I am happy to report I have tried nearly all the pastries. I’ve eaten so much pastry that I need a few blog posts to cover it all. This post is an overview. Later I’ll tell you about my favorite pastry, viennoiserie, the choux class I took, etc.
Okay, here we go! You should be excited.
To start, here is a lovely map I made to help you get oriented (this took me a LONG time, so I will accept compliments on how nice it is). I’d also like you to know that I went to way more bakeries than those listed on the map. This is a curated list. Never doubt my dedication to this cause.
As an aside, there are bakeries on literally every block in this city. If you go more than two blocks and don’t find a bakery, I hope you get a refund on your trip cause you are not in Paris.
The Basics
Alright, so, there are patisseries (pastry shops) and boulangeries (bread bakeries). The French are kind of funny about the distinction and you have to have special licenses to use the titles. There are some combo shops. It doesn’t really matter, it’s all good, but naturally you will find different treats at a patisserie versus a boulangerie.
If you want viennoiserie (flaky croissant kind of stuff), go to Du Pain et des Idees, it’s real good. It’s a little out of the way, but I’d make a special trip or three. (I’m working on an ode to the pistachio escargot, the most delicious viennoiserie, that will feature this place.)
If you aren’t in the mood to travel that far for your morning viennoiserie, go to an Ernest & Valentin or an Eric Kayser. There are a number of locations of each (more of Eric Kayser), and they are solid. Both also make tasty bread, and have been our go-to spots for baguettes and pain des amis, which we eat every single day with fromage. They’ve each got a few pastries too.
Croissant tip – You can get croissants hot twice a day. In the morning before “work”, and around 4:30 p.m. when the kiddos get out of school. Baguettes are also warm at these times.
This place is serious — they have seasonal pastry collections . . . . The Autumn-Winter collection featured a meringue beehive looking thing with a “blackberry and blackcurrant heart”, and a pastry that looks like a pear made out of almond mousse and pear jelly.
(The blob on the far left is called a Mont Blanc. Hard pass on that one for moi.)
Angelina is right by Jardin des Tuileries. If you go, there will be a huge long line for the tea room. I wouldn’t bother with that. To the right of the entrance, there is a “boutique” where you can get all the pastries to go. And the chocolat chaud (super thick hot chocolate) is a must try. Get some and walk through the Jardin; it’s fun.
Apparently the oldest pastry shop in Paris, Stohrer was started back in 1730 by Louis XV’s pastry chef. Stohrer was about .2 miles from our first apartment so I went, we’ll say, a few times. It’s solid, and has all the things. Here are some examples.
This little guy tasted like a Chinese egg tart/flan combo.
This guy is famous. Go here for macarons. There are, of course, seasonal collections of macaron flavors like “vanilla & violet”, “olive oil, mandarin & red berries”, and “rose & bergamot” (whatever that is).
Dream pastry, indeed! (Reves = dreams.) More modern, with artsy looking desserts. We had the Sainte-Honore (more on this later), and a Paris Brest (choux with hazelnut cream). Both delicious. The other desserts are more interesting to look at (sorry, no photos), but these two were recommended.
Saved the best for last, and it’s a gold mine (and was also .2 miles from our apartment). It’s actually a magazine with a brick and mortar pastry shop. Weird. Anyway, every day they have the best pastry chefs in the city ship in their most famous pastries. The selection rotates, and there is a photo of the chef and their restaurant/shop in front of every pastry, which is fun. If the focus of your trip to Paris is not a pastry tour (also weird), just come here four or five times and you’ll have it covered. It’s on Rue Montorgrueil — a really nice market street that we visited every day when we lived in the hood — and a few doors down from Stohrer.
Sainte-Honore and black cake thing were maybe the best two pastries we’ve had.
That’s all for now. In case you doubt how much I’ve eaten, I leave you with some other random pastry photos below. I’ve got another week to go on my pastry tour, and am just lapping back through the favorites, so if there are any pastries you think I should try, let me know!
Alice will be writing on her experiences in the cities we visit.
ksahhs bneff nadhflsdfhuierhkurh
(Alice wanted to type herself, but she doesn’t have opposable thumbs, or really any fingers. We will transcribe her thoughts.)
Paris, c’est bon. Pug in french is carlin. I like Paris because I go to all the restaurants, and sit in my bed/bag, and sometimes put my face on the table when my humans aren’t looking. Also, there are lots of good street snacks I find, like croissant crumbs. Parisians love chiens, which is good because I’m here and they gonna have to deal regardless. Here are just a few pictures of belle moi!
-Alice
There are lots of opportunities for me to model and become Instagram famous. Follow me at @Pug_Hat. Investigating the freshness of the produce at the market. Alllllmost got my face to the fromage. Don’t worry, I am persistent and will get some delicious fromage.People watchin from my beg/bag at le cafe. This is TERRIBLE use of bed/bag! Non Lime!Relaxing. Maybe next time my parents will not get an apartment where I am required to climb 80 stairs, and then I won’t be so pooped and can blog more.
Merci to Andrew and Helen. I’m really looking forward to my new career as a high-powered blogger.
Our first very quick stop after leaving San Francisco was Barcelona. We were there for four days, picked up an EU doggy passport, then took a train ride to Paris, where we are currently living. We will be here for a month.
This month will give me almost enough time to taste all of the pastry and viennoiserie on the Right Bank. I was told if you live on the Right Bank, you don’t really go to the Left Bank . . . (I intuitively understand this, as I do not like to cross Market Street in SF). One pastry I have not tried is the tasty-looking little cochon (piggy) in the blog header. I’ll do it today.
Here are some pictures of the Palais-Royal. Met a lot of dogs and a few humans here.
“Turn the fountain on! What the heck, guys.”
Just getting our blog legs under us, so no promises this will be any good for quite some time (or maybe ever). But don’t let that stop you from checking back frequently!
Unemployed and Traveling 