Let them eat eclairs: a patisserie tour in the Marais

I came to this amazing city for five weeks, to experience it, live in it, wander around it, and also learn patisserie. Amateur.
For myself.
Another dream I noted v.
Life is short and you need to check your V's quickly and as much as possible.
To live in Paris.
Getting up in the morning and knowing where your metro is, getting to your patisserie, stopping by your boulangerie in the evening and picking up your baguette, going to the weekly market and knowing what fruits and vegetables are in season.
here.
now.
And every day, I cross the Rivoli, stand in front of the magnificent and large Hotel de Ville, not forgetting to admire, again, reach the river, say Bonjour with two kisses on the cheeks and begin the lesson.
(After all, you've taken enough classes here so most of the teachers know you).

And after five weeks I decide to go on a conductor's tour inThe Mara region, which is the neighborhood where Jews lived and today is a prestigious, very touristy neighborhood. There are still Jewish businesses there (mainly on its main street and in the textile and accessories industry on the outskirts of the neighborhood).
And because of this, I decide to incorporate French Jewish history into my tour of sweetness.
A boulangerie, I memorize for myself, is a place mainly for bread and breakfast pastries,
Patisserie is a place for impressive cakes.
And I am more than anything: Bulgeri.
Because of all the amazing pastries that flood him every day, all day long, I especially like the morning pastries called Viennoiseries.
This city is heaven for me.
There are days when I don't eat anything.
That is, she eats: pastries.
All day.
And cakes.

When I arrived here, I naively thought I could go through all the patisseries and boulangerie and get to know and taste them all, but as the days went by, the list got longer and I realized that it was a losing battle. This city is full of them, dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands.

And I'm only referring to those whose names have gone far and wide, who have made a mark, who have stood out in their field and brought innovation to the world of French sweets.
Sometimes they are in small, hidden alleys, sometimes on large, tourist-filled streets, sometimes in squares, on street corners, and all together weave a sweet story of the world of French baking in the sweetest city in the world.
I collect them, arrange them on the map, and set off, armed with curiosity, a camera, and a big appetite.

Map of the patisserie and boulangerie tour in the Marais district of Paris

Walking route: 1.5 km
Metro: Saint Paul Line 1

Wonderful to Fred

I start in a small patisserie not far from the river, humble and quiet.
This patisserie makes cookies called Marveilleuses (wonderful).
It's basically two meringue cookies, connected to each other by cream.
So far it's kind of a macaron.
Fred takes this beauty and wraps it in sweet, delicate whipped cream and sprinkles it with white chocolate chips, wonderful cookies, toasted coconut, toasted and crackling nuts, and other flavors.
When you bite into this cookie, all the wonderful meringue comes into your mouth, along with the delicacy of the whipped cream and the crunch of the nuts or chocolate. It will melt into your mouth, to the extent and texture that meringue should have.
God, I could eat 10 of these and not feel it.
Great.
These cookies are named so, in honor of the women of the revolution, who fought shoulder to shoulder with their loved ones and even in those times did not forget to be feminine, romantic and dream of butterflies and flowers and love.
These women are the Merveilleux
Like the meringue – I too melt.
From the stories. From the taste.
Fred is also the world champion in brioche. He has family or personal, round or elongated.
Brioche is basically a bun rich in eggs and butter that behaves like a dream cake.
From Fred I exit and turn left, another two minutes and there on the corner is the Holocaust Museum.

Address: 24 Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe

Holocaust Museum – Mémorial de la Shoah Paris

https://youtu.be/c2C_yj_b8WQ

The Holocaust Museum, like many Jewish buildings here, is also secured with very heavy security. Crazy.
Metal detectors and a thorough search like at airports. No less.
This museum is small and of high quality, and at the entrance we are greeted by a picture of Simon Weil, who was recently buried in the Pantheon in a very impressive state ceremony.
Simone Weil was the Minister of Health of France and a Holocaust survivor known primarily for her fight for women's rights.
Weil was also Jewish.
The names of the victims are engraved on silver walls, and the short tour of the museum painfully connects reality to history.
I also enter the memorial tent of this museum, which reminds me of Yad Vashem.

Address: 17 Rue Geoffroy l'Asnier

The Little Versailles of the Marais

The return to the small streets and my tour is relatively quick. Like in life. Reality is stronger than anything. Two more minutes and I'm on Tiron Street. There, in the small streets, battles took place between the revolutionaries and the royal guards. There, horses galloped, demonstrations were held, and heads were beheaded. You can still see a building or two from the period standing.

Today, these streets are pleasantly quiet, and there are designer and artist shops, and the tourist traffic is relatively sparse. Chef confectioner Wabert is an MOF. This is the highest title that can be obtained in France. It is a title of excellence. Every chef patissier aspires to reach it. Every four years, he takes meticulous, professional, and rigorous tests, and if he passes them, his title is renewed.

In general, the French take these titles seriously, and my Parisian friends often have long and in-depth discussions over dinner about pâtissiers, chocolatiers, and chefs. They will discuss in depth the new flavors of Pierre Herme's macaron, taste it and roll it on their tongues, trying to identify whether it tastes better than the previous series. Similar discussions have been held about Claire Damon's mille-feuille or Jan Koubert's lemon cake. I wish we had. Wabert's fame is mainly due to his breakfast pastries, baguettes, and palmiers (caramelized puff pastry ears).

Address: 1 Rue Tiron

Rivoli Street

From Wavret I get off and go up to Rivoli, in another minute, one green light and I'm on the other side of Rivoli. Which is the busiest and most commercial street in Paris. Rivoli starts near the Place de la Bastille and ends at the Place de la Concorde, which is the gateway to the most famous boulevards in the world: the Avenues de la Triumphe.

On the way to Rivoli, you pass important monuments such as the Louvre Palace, the Fashion Museum andTuileries GardensFrom here, we also head to the charming Village of Saint Paul andThe beautiful little Vosges SquareAt Rivoli, number 14 stops, and enters Larnicole.

Georges Larnicol

https://youtu.be/Jt_o9rYxAZo

Larrenicol is a chocolatier from Brittany, France. Brittany is famous mainly for its fine butter. That's where the wonderful crepes and galettes come from, and there, they like their sweet – salty. To their special pastries and biscuits, they add a subtle amount of salt, which enriches the flavors. Here I'm tasting an almond chocolate spread with sea salt. Amazing.

Here I also taste the famous Breton pastry, quinnaman, which is a yeast-leavened dough (like a croissant) rich in butter and high in sugar, baked at a very high heat, which melts the sugar and turns it into caramel and the pastry brown, caramelized and wonderful.
Larnecol is also a MOF and has branches throughout France.

The Synagogue of the Communities Association

This is the Marais synagogue, also closed and enclosed. In general, it is worth knowing that in France you cannot just enter a Jewish institution or synagogue. You must make arrangements in advance and often the arrangements do not work out. The synagogue on Rue Pavée is 120 years old, and it blends into the charming architecture of the city. Only a Star of David and an inscription in Hebrew carved into the stone indicate that it is a synagogue.

Address: 10 Rue Pavée

Adam Christophe's Eclairs (L'Éclair de génie)

Quite close to the synagogue, a sweet little shop whose murals on the outside are somewhat childish and they take me into the world of fairy tales.
This is a branch of one Adam Christophe who is a superstar in France. Beyond the fact that he is a devastatingly handsome man, Adam Christophe has taken the classic eclair and put it at the center of the patisserie.

He dressed it in bright shades of raspberry and apricot, painted it in colors of gold, copper, and silver, and drove the French crazy.
The long lines at his branches indicate that it's not just the French who are crazy about him. Christophe makes sure to prepare collections that are suitable for the summer and are characterized by light, tart and bright flavors and a winter collection that is heavier. The most fun is that you can buy a pack of 4 small eclairs in different flavors and enjoy all worlds.

From the eclair boutique, I continue for another minute or two and enter the most Jewish street in the Marais.

Address: 14 Rue Pavée, 75004 Paris, France

Rue des Rosiers

There are restaurants and kosher food here, a kosher bakery, a Judaica store, a soap store, Eyal Shani's buffet, butchers and delicatessens, and even a falafel shop that attracts tourists from all over the world. Every weekend you can see very long lines of tourists and locals waiting to eat a falafel dish, which they eat with a fork. This falafel is great, but I personally prefer Mordechai's in Petah Tikva.

Yann Couvreur

A while ago, in the middle of the street, the patisserie prodigy, Jan Kobrer, opened an amazing patisserie. Amazing.
The design, the counters overlooking the street, the pastry shop and the food. Koberer took the classic patisserie and gave it modern touches.
I taste a beautiful and wonderful lemon tart, on which Kober decides to place a few coriander leaves.

How is that? I don't know. The tart is amazing, the cilantro thing needs to be re-examined. Actually, why not? Lemon also goes great with cilantro in cooking.

Address: 23bis Rue des Rosiers

Pierre Hermé

Is there anyone in the world who doesn't know what a macaron is? Who doesn't know who Pierre Hermé is? I think the first thing every tourist does, immediately after landing in Paris, is to find a branch of Pierre Hermé. His branches aren't large, but the feeling is like entering a museum, perhaps a temple. Everything is meticulous down to the last detail. The display of the wonderful cakes, the colors, the packaging, the beautiful and fashionable salespeople.
An amazing experience every time.

He also has seasonal collections and a crazy selection of flavors, some of which are unusual. I'm crazy about the passion fruit and white chocolate macaron, which he gave an exotic name: Mogador. Pierre Herma also came up with the pastry he calls de millefiori. Not a thousand leaves. But two thousand leaves. The cream is caramelized and rich, and on top: caramelized almonds. Rich, delicious, and definitely special. Did I feel like there were 2,000 leaves instead of 1,000? I don't think so.

There is a serious competitor to Herma's macarons in the city, and that is Ladurée – or vice versa (Parisians are divided between Ladurée and Herma).

Address: 18 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie.

Ice cream in Paris

Right across from Pierre Herme is a small ice cream shop that has other branches and in my opinion is the best in the city. I know tourists like to line up in long lines at Amorino branches but this one… this one is wonderful. And today I’m tasting the lavender.

Address: 15 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie.

Maison de la Prasline Mazet

From Pierre Herme I continue to Rue des Archives, the name of the French National Archives. A very impressive building with a large courtyard. In front of the yellow facade I stop and enter Mazet, who are champions in everything related to caramel. Chocolate and caramel, candies and caramel, cookies and caramel. Everything and caramel. Delicious here and beautiful. Another package makes its way into my backpack, which is getting heavier.

Address: 37 Rue des Archives

Sugar bread

Mero de Arshibe turns left onto Rue Rambato, a main artery that starts near the Church of Saint-Eustache in the 2nd arrondissement and ends at the elegant Rue Françoise Borghese in the Marais. Here there is a sweet and savory couple. He makes savory and likes to use herbs like tarragon and rosemary. She is responsible for the sweets. And they also have a small place overlooking the street, where you can leisurely nibble on the veal pastry with tarragon that I took and gaze out at the street.

Address: 14 Rue Rambuteau

Museum of Jewish Art and History

Near the couple's patisserie is the Museum of Jewish History of France. Here too, I am required to open my bags, go through detectors, and checkpoints, and enter the magnificent building that has a sizable sunny patio. The museum contains items that mark Jewish history in France.

Reconstructions of synagogues from across Europe, broken stone tombstones with Hebrew inscriptions, art details, Judaica, a chaebol or two. From the museum I return to Rambato, which is a minute's walk away. I have one last sweet stop.

Address: Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, 71 Rue du Temple

Pralus

The pink facade of Farlos seems to tell the story of the place's nougat and praline. The pink nougat and praline that go into Farlos' round, pinkish brioche, melt in the heat of the oven and as the shiny, brown brioche puffs up, accumulating at the bottom. And when you bite into the brioche, you don't understand where the celebrations are coming from in your mouth.

Bastille Day celebrations. No less. How beautiful. What a great combination.

Address: 35 Rue Rambuteau

The Anne Frank Garden

Now I'm tired and quite full, a few more meters down Rambato, to the left into a green, side entrance - and here I am in the charming and quiet garden named after Anne Frank.

Address: 14P Impasse Berthaud

Looking for more information about the Mara?

• First, let me recommend some Itineraries Excellent:
  • The first route I recommend is Route in the central and southern Marae.
  • The second route is The tour itinerary following Madame de Savigny which is concentrated in the northern Mara.
• If you want to read more about culinary in the Marais, I highly recommend Anton Chili's article onCulinary tour in the Marais Which he did before.
• Looking for a good hotel in the Marais district? Come in To my hotels page which contains a limited number of carefully selected recommended hotels. Want to live in a vacation rental apartment? You are welcome to enterRental apartments page in Paris And look for apartments in districts 3 and 4.