L'Opéra Lenôtre, a Scrumptious Baguette, and Flamingo-y Trendy Pizza! Otherwise known as another GLORIOUS day in Paris!

So, better late than never... my first blog post!

I've been in Paris since mid-January, but I'm always out and about exploring and wandering and getting lost I never even thought to start a blog!  But lately I've been coming across so many wonderful things and it'd be a pity not to share.  So here i go!

Lenôtre = an amazing French patisserie, specializing in CHOCOLATE! I went right after Easter, and they still had their cute little chocolate bunnies and easter eggs all around the store... and a special gold-gilded ginormous dark chocolate easter egg--YUM. I bought an Opéra, a dessert with layers of chocolate cake (liquor-soaked I believe?), coffee-flavored creaminess, and a delicious dark chocolate layer to top it all off (of course, the chocolate layer had another little chocolate piece on top of it, with "L'Opéra Lenôtre" written beautifully across it!). So decadent... and so good. I also ordered macarons--pistachio, chocolate, and caramel beurre salé (only because of my quest to find the best macarons in Paris, of course). The pistachio was better than Ladurée's, but the caramel wasn't quite as good (Ladurée's has a real gooey salted caramel filling, while Lenôtre used a caramel buttercream). The chocolate, however... Definitely more deliciously chocolate-y than Ladurée's, but only time (and lots of patisserie visits) will tell if Lenôtre's chocolate macaron is Numéro 1.


Baguette--there is this amazing boulangerie/patisserie called La Tradition du Pain by my Sunday Marché, the one on Boulevard Richard Lenoir. There are always huge lines outside at peak times of the day, and as half the time people seemed to come out with just baguettes in their hands, I thought I should give it a try! The baguette was as perfect as I could have imagined--not too fluffy, but not too firm, just the right amount of holes and the perfect chewiness to the crust. I'm going to make the trip out to the boulangerie that won the #1 Baguette in Paris award for 2010 soon, but until then, this one is number one in my book!


and on to the pizza... the PINK FLAMINGO!!!!!! Four words: Really freaking cute and delicious.