Paris' Best Baguette, Croissant & Chocolate

Visiting Gosselin in St. Germain de Pres

Of course Paris has a Grand Prix for the Best Baguette each year! Scroll over the link to see which boulangerie was the winner for 2012, which also gets the honor to supply the Elysee Presidential Palace for one year of freshly baked baguettes. Being the magazine hoarder that I am I didn't realize I had the winner from 2008 until just now, considering how nicely crisp and wrinkle free the page was. But tasting the baguette from Gosselin was as if they were still the winner this year. France's iconic food did not disappoint having a crunchy crust and a soft interior also known in French as "La Mie"(we need an English word to describe the soft inside of bread too).

The second find was for best croissant, and you bet that I looked on the same article finding the 2008 winner, Maison Kayser. I was wondering how a croissant could be so much better than the next one, almost like saying best bagel for New Yorkers -- but oh it was certainly clear when I bit into Eric Kayser's croissant! I honestly don't think I have ever had a better croissant, granted I didn't have this year's winner, but just the same... It was warm, buttery and crusty on the outside with a soft fleshy inside. The almond croissant was fantastic as well, but the plain butter croissant was the best. Thankfully my tiny shorts reminded me not to go for the chocolate croissant in this sitting and wait for tomorrow.

Enjoying Eric Kayser's Croissant for
breakfast with a Cappuccino. 

Onto the last find which was certainly well worth the manhunt and hours-long search. Christian Constant may be considered the world's best chocolatier. My husband has the patience like no other willing to wander neighborhoods in Paris trying to find this small chocolate boutique near Luxembourg Gardens. We had left the apartment quickly and I didn't write down the address. Meanwhile, I thought anyone in the neighborhood would know where the "World's Best Chocolate" is... except that wasn't the case for this hidden gem, and there was no wifi to even find the address! After a few hours of roaming around asking each shop along the way with my best Fresh accent, which is pretty bad, we finally found it! Christian Constant is serious about chocolate, as a "Scholar of Chocolate History," writer of three books on -- you guessed it -- chocolate!

The exquisite chocolates of Christian Constant

ABSOLUTELY EXQUISITE CHOCOLATE!   It was not what I was expecting at all. I thought it would be more traditional, old-world truffles with intense flavors of hazelnut or ganache. Rather, the chocolate was refined and much more about the texture and quality of the cocoa instead of distracting flavors. That is why I use the word "exquisite," as it is clear to taste the craftsmanship and the highest quality ingredients in this chocolate. 

Christian Constant who may be considered the world's best Chocolatier!

Exotic flavors ranged from Verbena Flowers, Yemen Jasmine and Green Tea, Tahitian Vanilla Flowers, Orange Blossoms to savory, unique flavors such as Safran threads, Cardamom from Malabar and Cinnamon from Ceylan. Surprisingly the price was also reasonable for this caliber of chocolate. You may pay $10 for a cup of coffee in parts of France, but thankfully the chocolate is much more fairly priced! 

I also had to mention MEERT, one of the oldest Parisian outposts for Flemish style gaufres since 1761. The flagship location is in Lille, but we visited the small boutique in St. Germain des Pres off Rue de Seine. These waffle delicacies are filled with vanilla cream from Madagascar and drenched in syrup -- VERY VERY SWEET. Other than the gaufres, the chocolates were delicious. Especially memorable was the dark chocolate truffle filled with a single-malt scotch from Scotland and the chocolate apricots.  

One of the oldest Chocolate 

Chocolate Case at MEERT