Weekend in Paris #4

Riz au lait squared, a stunning spring bouquet, and a photoshoot along the Canal Saint-Martin.

Weekend in Paris is a bonus series for paid subscribers—it’s one part recap of my off-duty fun as a baking school student, one part dishing about (temporary) expat life. This post is now unlocked for all readers to enjoy. Bienvenue!

Just your typical Saturday morning at Sainte-Chappelle

If I had to pick one word to describe the theme of this weekend, it would be “indulgence”—both gustatory and aesthetic! In today’s letter, you’ll find:

• 🍴 Melt-in-your-mouth boeuf bourguignon and elevated rice pudding,

• 💐 Stained glass and tulip heaven on an island in the Seine, and

• 🥖 A full-on boulangerie crawl featuring five women, five bakeries, five bread options…and (gulp) twelve pastries.

When I wrote about my enrollment in baking school, I found myself on the receiving end of countless fantastic Parisian recommendations—all of which I’ve jotted down, and many of which I’ve already woven into my (loose and relaxed!) sightseeing plans.

But when it comes to dining out, I trust the opinions of Amy Cavanaugh and Kenney Marlatt above all others. So when Amy told me that her favorite meal of their recent trip was from L’Ami Jean, how could I not make a reservation?

My 6:30 arrival on Friday night was completely at odds with the rhythms of Parisian life, where things don’t seem to get going until eight…at the earliest.

Still, the timing worked for this baker’s early-to-bed, early-to-rise schedule, and the quiet surroundings took away nothing from my hearty, tender bowl of boeuf bourguignon au tradition, whose every bite sang with depth and richness.

I wasn’t particularly hungry for dessert, but it would’ve been wrong to leave without trying their riz au lait, a creamy rice pudding served on a bed of hazelnut brittle and crème anglaise.

My favorite detail occurred when—and I’ve heard applies when ordering chocolate mousse, too—my waiter served me a generous scoop of pudding from a communal bowl, then asked if he’d given me enough. That question felt like the epitome of warmth and hospitality, as if I were attending a dinner party at a friend’s house.

If you’d like to enjoy this dessert at home, you can! The recipe was published by The New York Times in 2007 when they covered the emerging bistronomy trend in France.

I received another set of recommendations from my friend Jenovia 🕸️, who—in addition to being a fabulous writer whose essays are filled with urgency, passion, and meaning—has perhaps the most exquisite aesthetic taste imaginable.

For proof, refer to this paywalled-but-worth-it tour of her writing desk and altar:

My Writing Desk & Altar

Since she’s spent quite a bit of time in this city and has impeccable taste, I knew I could turn to her suggestions whenever I felt the urge for some extra beauty and romance in my experience of Paris…because while there’s an unexpected source of charm around every corner here, this city features plenty of gritty elements, too.

When you read about an especially lovely outing in a future weekend dispatch, chances are high that her fingerprints will be all over it.

It was on Jenovia’s recommendation that I headed to Île de la Cité, an island in the middle of the Seine. My first stop: Sainte-Chappelle, a Gothic chapel whose construction dates back to the 13th century. I planned to gawk at its spires and stained glass, all the result of painstaking restoration work over the ensuing centuries.

Upon leaving the chapel, I walked a short distance to the marché aux fleurs Reine Elizabeth II, an open-air flower market that promised another infusion of loveliness.

Even on this drizzly morning, it delivered, and I left with a bouquet of fiery tulips.

I capped off the day with a six-mile run through the Jardin des Tuileries and along the Champs-Élysées. (As I mentioned on Friday, I’m so glad to have a running buddy!)

With that, all of the boxes for my ideal Saturday in Paris—ethereal, enchanting, and cathartic—had been checked.

All this time, my WhatsApp group chat was blowing up.

I had planned to visit a new bakery on Sunday morning, but I wasn’t alone: many of my classmates were looking forward to a boulangerie crawl, too. So we arranged to visit one or two bakeries each, then meet at the Canal Saint-Martin for a group tasting-slash-brunch.

That morning, I boarded a bus bound for the 17th ‎arrondissement to pick up treats from Pleincoeur, run by renowned pastry chef Maxime Frédéric. I was undercaffeinated enough that I departed his impeccable little shop with a friendly “bonne soirée!” instead of “bonne journée!” (whoops). Still: mission accomplished, even if the process lacked a certain grace.

I arrived at our meeting point, a sunny park bench along the canal, with four pastries in tow: a kouign-amann aux pommes, a circular-format chocolate pain suisse, a swirly laminated pastry called “riz au lait” (in the perfect callback to my dessert at L’Ami Jean, it was stuffed with rice pudding!), plus a tarte sucre au chocolat, which we’d learned how to make just two days before.

My classmates trickled in with their own bread and pastry hauls from Terroirs d'Avenir, Demain, Atelier P1, and a few new-to-me treats from Boulangerie Utopie, which I’d visited last weekend.

The first order of business? Arranging a full-on photoshoot of our buffet, of course. (I found the dramatic charcoal baguette from Utopie to be particularly photogenic.)

With the photographic evidence acquired, everything got sliced, sampled, analyzed, and savored. My verdict: if you’re going to buy five types of bread and twelve pastries, you definitely need at least five hungry boulangerie students to carry their weight.

When we all returned to class on Monday, our chef had reviewed our exploits on Instagram, and was absolutely delighted that we’d tasted our way through the city. Extra credit for us!

And with that, it’s back to the (fabulous) grind. I’ll be back with another baking school recap on Friday!

Warmly,
Maddie

Breakfast Club is a newsletter about pastries with a side of personal growth, from an ex-financial planner turned baker. If you savored this edition, click the ❤️ (or share with a friend!) to help new readers discover it—and subscribe to get each letter fresh from the oven.