Upon the day of arrival as we walked alleyways of antiques throughout St. Germaine, there on Rue Royal was the first patissiere that beckoned me. Laduree, "Maison fondee en 1862," was a small shop of beautiful colors, smells and tastes, and come to find out one with much history in Paris. 
Although every scrumptious sweet behind the glass case called my name, it was an easy decision to go straight for my first macaroon in Paris. They're "Macaron Collection" comprises of delicious flavors such as orange blossom, frambiose (strawberry), lemon, chocolate, and caramel with salted butter. I chose my favorites, Rose Petal and Pistachio. As you can imagine, they were light, airy, full of flavor, and so far the best macaroon I have tasted. And as they should have been considering it was the maison of the shop, Pierre Desfonatines, in the early 20th century who invented the modern Parisian macaroon we now know of today. The macaroon history is interesting and I found it most easy to read from Les Petits Macarons. It all begins in the Venetian monasteries in the 8th century after almonds arrived in Italy from the Arabs. That is why the word macaron comes from the Italian verb, "maccare," to beat or pound, which is what they did to the almonds getting that creamy paste to use for baking. It was the nuns of France who were the driving force behind making macaroons popular in France. But as stated above, the Parisian creamed sandwich of today with the two shells joined together with a ganache filling, also referred to as "gerbet," is a more modern invention from Pierre Desfontaines, who was the second cousin of Louis Ernest Laduree. And so the Laduree box of macaroons connotes the same sophistication and excellence as another little green box, from Tiffany's, albeit not nearly as expensive and much more flavorful. Stay tuned as today I shall explore open-air food markets for baguettes and cheese...
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