Paris, Je t‘aime…The Sweet Life (part three)

It’s by now already quite some time ago since my trip to Paris. Exactly 25 days. Already way too long…
I told extensive and detailed about it earlier, but I wanted to tell and show you in brief some other sweet (and very tasty) things we did.

Our dinner at Ladurée on the Champs Elyseé for example.
I had the Bonaparte Salad - with Scottish smoked salmon, salmon eggs, blini, olive oil, lemon juice, seaweed tartare and black olives cream…- and it was absolutely amazing.

Simple perfection. Made with only the best ingredients, this was one of the best things I have ever eaten.

But I said that as well about their Ladurée Salad and Club Champs-Elysées. And from seeing the queue of people waiting to be seated and their plates and expressions, I can conclude everything is amazing here!

For dessert we had the Tarte Tatin, the Coupe Fraise-Coquelicot and the Eclatant Fraise Figue.

The Tarte Tatin was without a doubt the best out of these three.
Sadly, I have not even one good picture of the food or our royal seating, as a result of that charming candle light…

So you just have to go and check out yourself if I’ve made you curious…;)

We consumed more for lunch the next day at BE, Boulange épicier, a fusion of a "boulanger" and an "épicier" - baker and grocer.

We read that BE had the best sandwiches of Paris, and since the store is owned by no one less than Alain Ducasse and Eric Kayser, this wasn’t so hard to believe.
The wonderful perfumes from freshly made bread welcome you when you step into this beautiful little store packed with goodies and the best products. You can buy your pasta, jams, chocolate, little jars and spreads here, and of course your lunch (!)
Soups, salads, sandwiches, and a whole arrange of desserts: fruit salads, pastries, tartlets and muffins...

We ordered a lentil salad, 2 pesto/mozzarella/tomato/basil sandwiches -which were served onto indeed one of the best breads I’ve ever tasted: It was soft, slightly sweet and a bit brioche-ish. Amazing… - The last sandwich was a larger, sweet raisin pain, with roquefort and pear. Wonderful.

I’m glad we went, but it was a bit disappointed since we expected a real restaurant. BE is a wonderful store, with wonderful food, but more for take-away.

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Stop three.
We heard so much about Berthillon and their ice cream in flavours like caramel and chocolat amar, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and just had to go.
So on Saturday morning, after our morning coffee and croissant, we ‘shopped’ ourselves down to Île Saint-Louis - one of the two little islands in Paris, surrounded by the Seine.
We rushed pass the Notre-Dame, with just one intention: Berthillon.
The lack of an immense line was our first hint. When we arrived on 31, Rue St. Louis en l´Ile, we found Berthillon…

Yep. 100% Closed.
%&$*^(%#$!!!!
I’ll leave it by this. If I start expressing my feelings more, I know I will not stop anymore…

But if we want ice cream, we will get ice cream.
Berthillon drove us straight to their opponent:

Amorino!
Amazing Italian-style ice-cream, with quite a few locations in Paris. (Just look out for a flying little Italian elf and you’ll find Amorino...)
Absolutely delicious. I’m not really an ice cream expert, I almost never eat ice cream, (I prefer something with a bite…) but my sister, who happens to be an ice cream expert, approves it as well.
Very nice is you can choose as many flavours as you want. 20 flavours in just one scoop? No problem. The mango and caffe were my favourites.
(I just discovered their website, click on the flavours and see them in close-up. *drool…*)

The last thing I want to share is this pain au chocolat from Fauchon.
Their macarons couldn’t compare with Hermé’s, (they didn’t even come close…) but their pain au chocolat beats hermé’s easily. It was the best pain au chocolat we ever tasted. Buttery, flaky, as light as air and so chocolaty…*sigh*

This were my Paris highlights part I, II and III. Hope you enjoyed it, - I sure did! - and up to the next trip! ;)


Ladurée Champs Elysées
75, avenue des Champs Elysées
Tel : 01.40.75.08.75

boulangépicier
73 bd de Courcelles
Tel : 01 46 22 20 20

Fauchon
place de la Madeleine 24-26-30
Tel : 01.70.39.38.00