French bakeries are known to produce some of the best pastries in the world. And I can definitely agree. Most of the French bakeries are open every day, and each day the bakers get up early and bake all of their pastries, bread, and savory items. The taste of their food is amazing, and it is not very expensive. If you go to Starbucks in the United States you can get a pain au chocolat for around three to four dollars and at the French bakeries you can get a pain au chocolat for around 1 euro which right now is basically equivalent to one dollar.
The bakery my family visits most often is only a few blocks away. The walk is fun because after one block you get to walk through a couple of alleyways of shops surrounding you. Then you can tell you're near to the bakery because you can smell their warm freshly made pastries and see their long line lingering out the door. At last when you walk into the bakery you feel like you are in heaven. You can see the beautifully crafted pastries sitting on the shelves and you can smell the bread from the oven. And when you walk farther in the smell and beauty becomes even more amazing. You can almost feel the pastries you want in your hands.
My favorite treats to get at the bakery change regularly, because I am constantly trying new things that taste even better. But my all time favorite things to get are probably a quiche lorraine (which is a normal quiche with ham), a brioche praline (a brioche is basically a french pastry that resembles bread but is made with milk butter and eggs, and a praline is a pink sugar coated pecan), or a pain au chocolat (and you probably know what that is).
Yesterday I went to the boulangerie to get a baguette. You know what it is like to walk to the boulangerie, so just walking there made my day. Though when I walked in, none of my favorite baguettes were left. But I decided to ask anyway if they had the one I wanted. When I asked, the cashier told me to wait a minute, and she walked through the door to the kitchen. When she disappeared I thought to myself that they are not going to have the one I wanted. But then one minute later, like she had said, she came back through that door with a new steaming hot baguette in her hand, the exact one I wanted. Life is good in France.
If you are ever in France you will need to visit at least one French bakery. (Fun fact, bakeries in French are called boulangeries).
Thanks for the interesting report, Sam. I’d love to check out some of those pastries! Love, grandma