Sunday, May 15, 2011

Le Boulanger des Invalides

As I wrote for HIP, the beauty of a great city is you’re never done with it; there’s always something you still haven’t discovered. And while I feel like I became intimately familiar with many of the city’s boulangeries in my two-year stint—a little too familiar with some—grace à my friend Britta, I discovered a gem in the 7eme while I was there last month: Le Boulanger des Invalides.


It’s a Belle Epoque beauty, crunched on a corner of the sprawling Avenue de Villars. We sat for savory tarts and watched the never-ending line of come in for takeaway lunches of quiche, sandwiches and salads. My own Provencal tart was pitch-perfect: a thin, crisp pastry, topped with grilled eggplant and sweet tomatoes, seasoned perfectly.

But of course, it’s all about the desserts.

They had sweet praliné escargots—only the mini ones lasted until the lunch hour.

Of course I had to sample, hoping for the same taste of heaven that the Praluline gave me. But not quite.

But there were plenty of pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat.


Spreads of beautiful tarts, with those perfectly fanned fruits, dusted in confectioners sugar or drizzled in chocolate.


Along with some more atypical gateaux and tartlettes…



In other words, a huge selection. Enough to keep me coming back again and again.

4 comments:

Alisa Morov said...

Love learning about new stuff in my hood! Sounds and looks fab!

Lauren at Keep It Sweet said...

Wow, everything looks wonderful! Surprisingly I'm drawn most to the fresh bread!

Dianne said...

Hi Amy - No I am never done with beautiful Paris - It is early morning and I would choose one of those luscious buttery pain au raisins to dunk ever so lightly into my morning coffee - delicious!
Enjoy your research!

Brit said...

I am so happy that I got the chance to show you Le Boulanger des Invalides. Good luck with the finishing of your book. Greetings from somewhere in Paris!!! xo, Britta