I’m not gonna lie: La Boulangerie Jean-Noël Julien was not on my original list. Stop #3 was originally intended to be at Philippe Gosselin. After wandering around in circles searching for Rue St. Honore for what had to be at least 45 minutes, I finally found it, but I was of course, blocks away from Philippe Gosselin. So I headed down the Rue, and along the way, happened to pass La Boulangerie Jean-Noël Julien. I was intrigued, and thought about going in, but as it was not on my list and had I not been lost for so long, I decided to just keep going.
Well, I did finally reach Philippe Gosselin….and it was closed. Now, I couldn’t tell if it was closed for the night or forever, but it looked pretty abandoned. I hung my head in defeat. All that wandering around in circles for nothing! I turned to leave, and then suddenly, I remembered the bakery I passed and almost stopped in just a couple blocks earlier! All was not lost! I put on a happy face, and headed back towards my new
Stop #3: La Boulangerie Jean-Noël Julien.
I liked this place. They had bread – a lot of it. The first two shops had no bread. And I love bread. I’d marry bread, if that were legal. Anyway, I couldn’t decide what to get – and they did not speak english here, which was ok – I knew the names of all the pastries/breads from school, and really, that was all the info I needed. The breads were all really big though – and I was only going to be there for another 24 hours, so purchasing an entire loaf just seemed like a waste. Then I saw it, there, glistening under the glass, whispering to me in french – “Jeanine! Achetez-moi!”. Thankfully, my name is the same in french and english, so I knew it was talking to me. I approached the counter. “Un palmier,” I spoke softly, in practically perfect french (but pointed to it, just in case).
big, buttery, and beautiful.
It was big. Light, but big. There were no seats in this shop, so I had to take it to go, but they wrapped in the perfect pastry paper. I almost saved the wrapper, I liked it so much.
Parisian pastry paper.
Anyway, I carried the giant palmier all the way back to the cafe next to my hotel, and wound up eating it for dessert after my dinner, which, because I had eaten so many pastries was rather scant. Yet, so very french.
olives and wine: it’s what’s for dinner.
The palmier was delicious, by the way. I ate the entire thing, and it was flakey, and sweet, and ended my first day of the tour on a high. So it’s true what they say – when one pastry shop closes, another one opens. And you should always be sure to go in.
To be continued in the next post: Stop #4: Angelina. Hot chocolate is not just for kids anymore.
Small Indulgences 