After working up a hunger shooting Notre Dame de Lorette church last month, I headed to rue des Martyrs, one of the great food shop streets of Paris, for a snack.
Many new gourmet shops have opened on the street and it seems as though a new one pops up every few weeks. I stumbled upon a most adorable pastry shop, Mesdemoiselles Madeleines.
A recent trend in pastry shops in Paris is taking a classic pastry, such as éclairs and cream puffs, and ramping them up with unusual flavors and fillings and also creating mini versions of them.
Mesdemoiselles Madeleines takes the beloved Madeleine and gives them bursts of new flavors including salted caramel, hazelnut, grapefruit/pistachio, raspberry/rose, and chocolate/mint.
I’m a pushover for anything with salted caramel, so I sampled the mini version. (I was trying to be good and not go the whole hog and have a large one). It was moist and chewy and the caramel was subtle. I’ll have to go back and indulge in one of the large ones that are filled.
The flavors have old-fashioned French female names such as Henriette, Antoinette, Fanette (I love that name, I want to be Parisian Fanette in my next life), Albertine, Capucine (there was an French actress named Capucine in the 1960s, who was in the Pink Panther films with Peter Sellers), and Apolline.
37 rue des Martyrs, 75009
Metro: Notre Dame de Lorette
http://www.mllesmadeleines.com/images/MLLES_MADELEINES_PARFUM.pdf
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte's professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 195 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Tours start at 225 euros for up to 3 people, and 75 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Click here to watch a video of our famous Marais tour
