If you've been reading our little blog long enough, you know I've got a thing about croissants. A good croissant aux buerre is a thing of beauty to me; crisp, light, buttery….. And of course France, and especially Paris, home to over 30,000 bakeries would be the place to try them, right? Thru trying a bunch of croissants during our trips we've come up up with our favorite, which we've revisited several times. There is one interesting thing though. When I ask folks that own the apartments or work at the hotels we stay at about their favorite, they'll undoubtedly name a place within a block or two. When I mention our favorites, I'll often get an odd look. I've kinda figured things out; the French believe that a croissant, like the baguette is a birthright and with all those bakeries there's bound to be one in close proximity. I was once told that within the main arrondissements there will be one within a short walk and being a regular means that you develop a relationship with the folks in the boulangerie. The owner of our apartment told me that there were two boulangeries within a block of the flat. Well, he was wrong as there were three! One opened during our two week stay!
So, at least in terms of croissants, I decided to do the "live like a local" kinda things during our two week stay. So here goes…….
Ernest & Valentin Reaumur:
We saw this location of Ernest & Valentin, I believe there are six locations within the city limits of Paris, right when we arrived as it had a prime location on Rue Reaumur right by the stairs exiting the Arts et Métiers metro stop.
This shop was bustling, but the service was efficient and somewhat friendly.
This would be my favorite croissant aux buerre of the three I tried. It was decently crisp and flakey.
It was light and fluffy. While it could have used a bit more butter, in terms of a balance of butteriness to salt, this was the best of the three.
I would end up having this four times during my stay.
Ernest & Valentin
42 Rue Réaumur
75003 Paris, France
Boulangerie Pezeril:
A block to the East on Rue du Temple is Boulangerie Pezeril.
This was by far the busiest of the three boulangeries. There was always a line in the morning.
This place had a nice local vibe and the employees seemed to really know their regular customers.
Unfortunately, the croissant was quite over baked and hard.
While it had a decent butteriness, I didn't care for the texture. I also noticed that folks really didn't go for the croissants here. There was one good things about this visit. While paying for my croissants I noticed three police officers walk in. They knew exactly what they wanted. Each got Jambon Buerre – the ham and butter baguette sandwich. This was a great clue for me. I would end up stopping by for a sandwich to eat on the train when we did day trips. As it was pretty good.
Boulangerie Pezeril
183 Rue du Temple
75003 Paris, France
Liberté Turbigo:
One the third day of our stay I needed to head on over to the local Carrefour City and noticed that a Boulangerie was opening up.
This was to be the sixth location of the Liberté chain. A few days later they were open and I dropped by.
During my 2 visits, it seemed like the demographic skewed to the younger crowd. If I recall these were also the most expensive.
These were the largest croissants; quite substantial, but lacking in enough butter for my taste and a bit doughy as well. Still, not bad.
Liberté Turbigo
63 Rue de Turbigo
75003 Paris, France
Spending a couple of weeks in one location was fun, at least for me. And can you imagine having three bakeries all within a block of where you're staying? I was told that in Paris "there's a boulangerie on almost every corner". And, at least in this case, it seems that saying is true!
Thanks for stopping by!