Your Definitive Guide To The Best Bakeries In Paris

Let’s face it, one of the main reasons to travel to Paris is for the bakeries. While visiting museums and cultural sites are important parts of the trip as well, we can all stop pretending that we’re not just going for the bread and pastries. It’s okay, we’re all doing the same thing. So which are the best bakeries that you must head to while visiting the City of Lights? Here are some of the best Paris has to offer.

Yann Couvreur

Yann Couvreur, who has worked as head pastry chef at the Prince de Galles hotel, is known to be one of the most innocative pastry chefs who takes on classic pastries and gives them a clever twist. You can enjoy the seasonal tarts and his roulés, made of flaky pastry filled with praline rose, hazelnut, pistachio chocolate, or chocolate coconut filling.

Du Pain et des Idées

Any bread lovers our there? Listen up: this place is known for its incredible rustic loaves like the pain des amis. You also must sample the mini-pavés, which are mini dough breads filled with cheese, vegetables, or other savory fillings. You can also try the escargot pastries, which don’t contain snails, but are pinwheel shaped chocolate-pistachio pastries that are delicious.

Des Gâteaux et du Pain

Des Gâteaux et du Pain is Claire Damon’s bakery but also her lab. You will find endless bread varieties here (making up the “du pain” part of the name) as well as delicious breakfast pastries and pastries. You must try the chausson aux pommes, an apple turnover with a twist that is absolutely to die for. Another popular best seller is the absinthe tart.

Gilles Marchal

This is Gilles Marchal’s independent pastry shop. He is known for his madeleines which come in flavors like lemon zest, pine honey, grand cru dark chocolate, and pistachio. He is also known for his sablé shortbread cookies, all of which are a must try.

Karamel

Karamel is the fine pastry shop and tea salon headed by pastry chef Nicolas Haelewyn, who used to work for Ladurée. Karamel is best known for its pâtisseries and viennoiseries that are interesting and unique, for example the Kararoll, which is a croissant with sea salt cremeux, caramel paste, and hazelnut oat topping.