Gypsy followers know that Rick loves baking bread and has become quite good at it. Visiting Poilane, the renowned boulangerie with their signature loaves, was a must.
Poilane was founded in 1932 and three generations have taken their hand at creating the remarkable and renowned breads, beginning with Pierre Poilane and followed by his son, Lionel, and now granddaughter, Apollonia.
The breads use stone ground flour, natural fermentation and a wood-fired oven and continue the traditional methods Pierre used when he first began the boulangerie.
The pain Poilane, their signature loaves, weigh two kilos and trust me, they are heavy-duty loaves!
They also make a thin shortbread cookie (samples in the baskets by the register!) and candies...
...along with other pastries....
....and tasty looking rolls!
Needless to say, we did not leave empty handed. (Next time Rick wants to visit the bakery where they make all these wonderful things! One can do that, but we didn't realize in time.)
Then it was time for a little shopping at Le Bon Marche. I have collected vintage chromas used for advertising by this renowned Paris department store, which has been around since 1838. (Not a typo!)
My favorite part of stores like this is the food hall.
Such pretty packaging! No, none of these came home with me. But it was tempting!
I know. You can no more judge food by the packaging as you can a book by the cover -- but sometimes I do!
We also enjoyed checking out the wine selection.
I have to say, I really appreciate a store that displays its wines well. Talk about giving a little room to breathe!
The area was enormous and I had a vision of our Cork Poppers wandering through, trying to select wines for the next tasting! The tough part would have been the extensive selection.
What surprised me was that wines were not priced terribly high here. Or rather, you could find relatively inexpensive wines, even in this lovely store.
You could also find very expensive ones. Yes, that middle one is 4,545 euros. Which, I might add, is more than we each paid for three and a half weeks in Paris and England combined (including shopping.)
Ah well. Time to move on. Next time -- my favorite thing in Paris!
46 comments:
I am SO enjoying this virtual tour with you, thanks so much for sharing.. those breads!! I think the Foods would be my most favorite experience. ALthough the architecture is stunning too...
Hehe, so it´s not only us who (also) take journeys for food we don´t have here - refreshing to read :-)
And that - bread - I have to say I will miss in Perth. Once we stayed in a very little place just because they had petit pain! 7 months (journey 1999) no real bread was not funny!
I love the pink tins! German saying, I don´s know, but the yes eat, too.
That´s a lot of wine indeed! And, well, for a good, say rum, you pay a high price, too. As long as you don´t do that every week, it´s OK, no?
Looking forward to your next post!
That bakery looks wonderful and the history so interesting, thank you. I wanted to bring home some stone ground flour from that mill we visited in Norfolk, but knew I could not. My sister did. I have never seen wine displayed in such grandeur. No I'll take that back in my retirement dinner we went to a restaurant in Philly that had a floor to ceiling tower with a spiral staircase that displayed their wine. It used to be a bank, so very grand. But not in a store like yours was.
Hello,
That bakery would be hard to pass up. The breaks and the shortbread cookies all look delicious. The wine display looks wonderful too, did they have a tasting area too? My hubby would be near the candy displays. Thanks for sharing this tour, now I am craving some homemade bread with some wine and cheese. Enjoy your day, have a great week!
I have a terrible weakness for bread. I can just imagine the way that store smelled. I've really got to start baking bread again. What a treat to go along on this virtual tour. Wines I can take or leave behind but that store was a beautiful place.
What lovely shops. I didn't get much shopping done on my visit to Paris, but next time (see how I put that out there universe) I would love to visit these shops. Oh bread is a downfall of mine but it's so good. So happy you shared all this with us.
Funny, we just took a walk in that neighborhood an hour ago! Poilâne is a very special place, isn't it? We lived across from the other shop when we were here for a long stay many years ago, and really grew to love their breads and pastries.
Nice post!
best ... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
My fave today has to be that wonderful bread shop, there's nothing better for me than good bread, preferably with a delicious cheese. Hugs, Valerie
One of the things I enjoyed most in Paris was a tour of the chocolatiers. And, I loved the breads I had at every meal.
Looks and sounds like you had a wonderful time! Those baked goods, oh my my!
now off to find your instructions for comments coming in again. They don't seem to be on my art blog.
I have had that bread and I am told it can be shipped stateside. Donna@gather
I can practically smell the bread!
I could spend days wandering around the boulangeries of Paris. Jeanie, food halls in the beautiful stores across Europe are one of my favorites, also! Thank you for such a fascinating feast to my eyes!
My hat is off to Rick in this one. The bakery, which I had never heard of, looks quite fabulous, and any bread maker who would make a pilgrimage to it in Paris is my kind of guy. I can only imagine the taste of the bread. I would buy a loaf and devour half of it on the way out the door. Bread, as I am sure Rick knows more than most of us mere mortals, is food imbued with significance beyond its pedestrian origins. It is what binds cultures, it is allegorical in so many ways. And to follow up this experience with a visit to the wine store merely confirms that he is indeed exalted. I have never made bread which is my loss. I stand in awe of Rick’s skill and dedication. His bread, a bottle of wine and a little cheese would transport me to realms unknown. Bravo, Rick. Félicitations. Bon appètit!
Oh, that bread!! Pair that with some of that wine, some cheese, life is good. I wish we could get bread like that here, well actually maybe it's good that we don't! -Jenn
I would love to browse in this bakery. It would be difficult to make a selection of baked goods. I cannot believe the extensive collection of wines on offer. Again, it would be difficult to make a selection. I'm glad you and Rick were able to make a stop at these places on your recent trip. Fascinating to peek into the every day lives of Parisiennes (not sure if that is the correct way to make the plural form).
OMG. That bread looks wonderful.
That bread looks like art Jeanie. But it is art, not just looks like it. And the wine store seems like it is also art. This looks like a few fun outings! I think the bread with the book on it is truly amazing. Do you think Rick got some good ideas visiting? Hugs-Erika
french bread is very nice. In Portugal they also have great bread and there is a round corn bread similar to the one in the second photo that I love.
That wine shop was amazing, never seen wines displayed in such a fancy way!
Love the pink tins with the rose candies :)
One of our visits to Paris we took a chocolate tour, but they also took us to this very bread shop. Oh does it smell good. I would have bought the violet candies as I cannot find them here and they are great for decorating sweets for tea parties. It is so fun to visit food places in other countries and find unique items you don't find at home.
Those shops look wonderful! The smell in the bakery must have been heavenly. I'm amazed that you didn't buy one of the tins. You've been a good girl! ;)
Hey happy days, a baker in the family and one who insists on checking out Poilane in Paris. Oh my, I would have wanted to have ordered one of everything in their window, although carrying that bread would have been quite a workout! Yes, would would have had a very merry time of you'd had all the Cork Poppers with you to select some wines for sure!
Wren x
Rick must have been in heaven, but learning he can visit where the bread is made would have been the icing on the cake, I'm sure.
Yes, I have been known to buy a product because of the packaging. Anything with Paris on it, would have thrilled me. What a shopping day!
That bakery! Wow! How can you possibly choose what to buy? Thanks for the tour, I've noted down the addresses, hoping to be in Paris soon myself.
Amalia
xo
Wonderful visit for Rick . ..
and you have an idea for the next trip . . .
The bakery . . . (I can imagine the fragrance)
How fortunate we are to visit Paris through your eyes.
Happy Thanksgiving Jeanie and Rick . . .
Enjoyed this. Oh my goodness, that bread. :-)
SHEER POETRY is Paris, Jeanie. Look at that bread. When I was in France, I could not get enough bread and even the French were amazed at my godzilla-like consumption of a whole baguette! LOL! Oh how wonderful of a memory you have of you and Rick in this wild place of imagination, iconic enigmas and marvelous experiences. My dear, I've also been extremely busy with school that the mornings are literally impossible for me to keep up with everything on-line. I thank you kindly for coming to my post. It was done in haste, but I figured that anyone reading it carefully enough could infer from it whatever they wanted. Thank you for visiting. CHEERS and happy holidays!
Shopping for groceries et in foreign countries is a fave of mine..and I love pretty packaging:)
Fun shots Jeanie!!
WOW...I love your trip!! Baking, I am not much on liking cooking but I love baking. Those baking TREATS look amazing! With my baking it is all about taste but in the stores, bakery's and Paris, it is all about the way it looks.....
This post made me hungry.
I don't blame Rick for wanting to go there. I'm also not surprised you didn't leave empty-handed. I wouldn't have been able to either.
That bread shop looks amazing! I'm not surprised that it was a must see for your bread maestro! The bread looks amazing and makes my GF heart ache a little as GF bread is just not the same as the real deal!
I'm a sucker for good packaging, too!!
what a wonderful way to really experience Paris, visiting an authentic boulangerie and Le Bon Marche! You and Rick really planned your trip expertly! I am not much of a traveler so I love traveling with my friends! Oh la la, what a fabulous trip!
Jenna
Jeanie, I'd love to visit that bakery with Rick! Between the two of you, you have organized a Paris stay that would really please me. Thanks for taking us along.
Jeanie, that bakery must have been a delight for your noses the minute you stepped in the door. I don't know what was in those pretty pink cans, but I would have to bring one home to put flowers in..Beautiful trip..xxoJudy Happy Thanksgiving.
As I look at those photos of bread, I can just smell it!
What a wonderful trip and so many sights, sounds and memories! How fortunate you are to be seeing these things in person! That bread . . . oh my! I could just plop down there and eat and eat and eat . . . can't imagine how great it SMELLED! Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you!!
From the list of comments, it's clear that the appeal of bread is widespread. There's nothing I like better than hot bread and butter, and I can only imagine Rick's delight in that place. Granted, the shortbread cookies appeal, too, but I'd be willing to forego them for some samples of that bread.
Happy Thanksgiving to you again -- eat hearty! (and don't worry about responding to this comment -- have a second helping of something instead!)
FUN to see Rick drooling over those beautiful, crusty bread loaves outside the boulangerie!! What MAGNIFICENT breads!! Do hope you can go back to the bakery--and see the breads being made...wow, baking dream come true. Those thin shortbread cookies looks sooo good too... I feel VERY hungry now! haha... Very fun with a stop in Le Bon Marche. Just love these big department stores--and the food halls are always the best bit of them. Look how Marche display wine--like a work of art, which it is! You need to get all your Popper there for a get-together! Gotta love vacations for all the inspiration! :) I feel like I've been on a mini vacation vicariously through your wonderful posts--refreshing and such fun! ((HUGS))
Wow! Rick must have been in heaven! Even a non baker must adore these artistic creatitions!
And the packaging, I would want so many of those, but not necessarily what's inside!!
This bakery is so charming, Jeanie. So many different goodies. I bet Rick loved it, as he sometimes bakes bread. You know, I could eat bread and butter for dinner alone. It's filling and so delicious. That chocolate section would have caught my eye for sure. And to buy a candle from Paris and bring it back home with you would be wonderful. I love those tins. Thanks for sharing your Paris journey with us. : )
~Sheri
What a delightful post!Hugs!
I have never been to Paris shopping just changing planes at the airport there. However I so enjoy you who have got to shop sharing with us all in blogland all the goodies to be had there.
I am so happy to have found your blog through "How Sweet the Sound's" Pink Saturday party. We're going to Paris this summer and I so enjoyed reading about the bakery you featured. I look forward to reading your other posts and learning more about the City of Lights.
Happy Pink Saturday, Jeanie. I always love it when you take me along. This all looks divine. You need to remind me why I am low carbing. haha
This post is being featured in my Pink Saturday post this week as "the one that caught my eye".♥
Oops. I meant it is being featured as "the one with the most clicks".♥♥♥
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