Bonjour Paris -- day 2

I had decided last night not to set an alarm so I woke up fairly late this morning. Foolishly, I hadn't heeded the advice about the Musee d'Orsay (it has long lines, especially on Tuesday since on that day the Louvre is closed and tourists need to go somewhere), and when I arrived by 11 o'clock, the line snaked its way across the little square in front of the entrance. By this time I was cold and thirsty so I decided to shelf the art for the day and make it a foodie-hunt day in Saint-Germain. After a quick tea, I was off.

First stop was Laduree on the rue Bonaparte, which is famous for its macarons. However, I was tempted by a small cake called Succes Praline, which I took home with me. Laduree is steeped in history and it was interesting to see how many people walked in buying the macarons by the dozens (and they are euro 1.30 for a small one), including the almost obligatory Japanese tourists (I see them everywhere where good food is sold... coincedence? I think not!).

I discovered a new hobby today: chocolate hunting. Much cheaper than being addicted to for instance old books (very expensive) or wine (can be very expensive too). Most tablettes (bars of chocolate) only cost a maximum of 6 euros, so this addiction is fairly cheap to have as long as you stick to tablettes and don't go astray on the bonbons.

First stop was Cacao et Chocolat on rue de Buci, a brightly colored shop smelling of chocolate (apparently their hot chocolate is really good). After some browsing and getting high on the chocolate odour, I decided to buy some 100% chocolate, I've never had 100% pure chocolate before, and I'm quite interested to taste what it tastes like.

The second stop was Pierre Marcolini, a short walk from the rue Buci on the rue de Seine. This very swanky shop was slightly intimidating, so swanky, and I was secretly relieved to see that even this chique shop sold chocolate easter bunnies. I settled for a tablette again, leaving this fashionable boutique to head over to the next stop.

I've heard that Patrick Roger is considered by some to be the best chocolatier in Paris, so I had to go there. This one definitely earns the prize for friendliest service, with a very kind assistant letting me practice my poor French on her. Here again a group of Japanese women, which I've come to see as a good sign (it means good food)(well, not always). Again I decided to focus on tablette, and this is the one store where I dithered from my rule of only buying one tablette per store, they just looked too good.

Last chocolate shop for the day was Pierre Herme on the rue Bonaparte. This was a head-to-head battle with Marcolini's store for the most-swanky-store on the block. It looks like a fashion boutique, outside and in. The cakes looked amazing, but I couldn't really buy one, since I'd already promised Laduree the cake of the day. So I 'settled' for a tablette and bringing home the catalogue.

The chocolate shopping for this trip done (and having enough chocolate to last me a long long time), I decided to make one more stop on the foodie trail: La Grande Epicerie, Le Bon Marche's food store. Wow. Aisles and aisles of all the possible foodstuffs you could want, clearly labelled and attractively displayed. The bread section looked scrumptious, and I nearly succumbed to a spanish ham-sandwich. I'm definitely coming back here to shop for some nice foodie-souvenirs.

Laduree
21 rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
6th arrondissement
www.laduree.fr

Cacao et Chocolat
29 rue de Buci
6th arrondissement
www.cacaoetchocolat.com

Pierre Marcolini
89 rue de Seine
6th arrondissement
www.marcolini.com

Patrick Roger
108 boulevard Saint Germain
6th arrondissement
www.patrickroger.com

Pierre Herme
72 rue Bonaparte
6th arrondissement
www.pierreherme.com

La Grande Epicerie
24 rue de Sevres
6th arrondissement
www.lagrandeepicerie.fr