Eating the best bread in Paris (or not)

After 3 days of copious hours of walking, sightseeing, and battling the Parisienne sun, I decided to take it easy today - just some leisurely strolling through the 1st and 4th arrondissements, some true "sit and look like I just can't be bothered" time at a café and to finish it all off, a cheese, baguette, and wine filled pique-nique (picnic) at Paris' largest park.

So, after a quick pass at Notre Dame, I sought the best and truest pique-nique food I could find. First, les fromages (cheese). I found a wonderful fromagerie (cheese shop) somewhere shortly past Place des Vosges (Paris' oldest square) and the young vendeuse (saleswoman) working was very helpful when I explained I needed pique-nique fair for one (which I did in French, of course!). Dizzy with gratitude and more than a bit overwhelmed, I took the first two she suggested. 

Next, du vin (wine). Easy. Pop into any market in Paris and you'll find a half decent selection of demi-bouteilles (half bottles). I chose a white in the hopes it would complement the cheese. 

Now, finally, the piece de resistance. The be all end all of every Parisienne meal - du pain (bread). I knew where I should go. I should march the extra 2 kilometers to Paris' arguably top-rated boulangerie, Du pain et des idées. I'd previously seen this bakery featured on no less than 3 cooking shows. Rachel Khoo (of Little Paris Kitchen) swears by it. And so, off I went. 

When I approached the corner where the highly celebrated bakery rests, I should have known something was amiss when I didn't see any sort of queue or toothy grinned folks leaving the shop.

They were closed. Those hard working bakers are off for a month of summer holiday. They left the day before I arrived in Paris. Well deserved, as I'm sure they work every damn day at 3am for 11 months of the year, but alas, I was heartbroken.

Closed. :(

So, in a fit of mild depression, I bought a baguettine (also demi-baguette, or half baguette) from a shop at the metro. AT THE METRO!? Blasphemy. Screw that. I remounted the stairs and set off to find something at least a touch better. Not but two blocks away, I found a bakery with a line out the door (perhaps all the disappointed patrons of des idées have made this one the vender of choice for the next month), and so, with some eagerness, I bought what appeared to be the next-to-last traditional baguette in the shop. Whew! 

As for the park, it began to drizzle, and then rain, shortly thereafter and so the pique-nique moved indoors. 

As for the food - the cheeses were outstanding. I've never had a cheese with such a chameleonic character as the one on the left. Of course, I have absolutely no idea what it was called (I'm terrible for remembering this sort of thing), but I can say at times it tasted like a creamy cheddar, at others a mild blue. And the one on the right was undeniably a goat's milk cheese, but with a very definitive crust.

The wine? Great choice. Just sweet enough to pair with the cheese but not overwhelming.

And the bread?  There was an unmistakeable difference in the two baguettes. Not just texturely, but even more pronounced in flavor. The bargain basement Metro baguettine made it's way to the poubelle (trash can).

SwissMissD