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Afternoon Tea: Un Dimanche à Paris

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

Another drizzly day in Paris meant it was time for my troisième afternoon tea, this time at Un Dimanche a Paris. Not only is the location romantic, tucked away on a side street in an otherwise bustling city but the name “A Sunday in Paris” is adorable and would it not be the perfect place for a meet cute? Stepping inside I was in awe at the size of the place. The main floor is home to the retail shop, pastry kitchen and restaurant. Upstairs a cocktail lounge and cooking school. Seated by a window, I enjoyed my pastry and cup of chocolat chaud while watching the people go by in their trench coats and umbrellas.

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Sadaharu Aoki

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

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Sadaharu Aoki is a small patisserie that incorporates Asian flavors into French pastries, any one of which I’d recommend taking and enjoying in the nearby Luxembourg Gardens. If in the mood to make a real picnic of pastries, also stop by Pierre Herme a few blocks away for traditional French items.

The rainbow of layered cakes above: macha azuki (red bean), cheese cake citronne (lemon), chocolat pralin, sensuelle (chocolate, raspberry), cassis chocolat (blackcurrant), zen (sesame, green tea, white chocolate), bamboo (green tea, dark chocolate)

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Patrick Roger Chocolate

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

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Staying in an apartment a mere couple of blocks from Patrick Roger’s chocolate shop was such a treat. Every time I passed by I was tempted to press my face up against the window to admire these chocolate hippo sculptures. Patrick Roger is the artist behind these creations. He treats chocolate like a raw material that can he transforms organically into life-size models or with incredible precision to make  truffles and bars.

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First Day in Paris

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

When I started writing this series, I jumped right into detailed accounts of my pastry excursions. I thought I’d go back to the first day and share what I did upon arrival in one of my favorite cities in the world. I was still a bit jet lagged so I warmed up my legs by just strolling around the neighborhood where I had rented my apartment for the week. St Germain des Pres (6th arr) has my favorite pastry and bread shops but there were still new places I was eager to try. And bonus for traveling with a friend, I got to taste twice as much.

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Around Sacre Coeur and Boulangerie Gontran Cherrier

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

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To get to the Sacre Coeur I got off at the Abbesses subway stop. Walking out onto the street I found myself in the middle of a mid-day flea market. There was a carousel in the middle and a wonderful sugary smell coming from a churro cart. I was most thrilled to scour through odds and ends to find a true gem of a vintage kitchen item, but alas nothing. I did see some mini savarin molds but I didn’t have the confidence to haggle.

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