Paris Walking Tour & Macaron Review

Moo had official business to attend to today which left me alone to do whatever pleased me.  Not wanting to shop or see anything specific, I realised that Paris was one city in which I had yet to do the Sandemans 'Free' Walking Tour.

The view from our hotel window of St. Eustache and the Sacre Coeur told me today was going to be a great day for a walking tour.  Paris, seriously, how could anyone not *heart* you?!?!? *muah muah*

While the major sights are within a compact area, it was going to be a fairly difficult task to cover a lot of them.  Ok, I admit, every time I take one of these tours I am wishing for another Mike the Hottie experience but so far, I have only been disappointed. :(  My guide for the day was Halley, a Canadian whose only income derives from giving these tours.  He was an enthusiastic, arty type but definitely no Mike.

I'll admit, my attention waned a bit and I realised that I have retained pretty much zero information from the tour.  I should have taken notes or filmed part of the tour.  But then again, it's not like I'm going to be examined on any of this stuff so it really doesn't matter.

The tour began at Place Saint-Michel in the Latin Quarter.  We also had a little speech near the Notre Dame, Conciergerie and Palais de Justice.  The last of which is the only building to be have been hit by bullets in WWII. 

Next was the oldest bridge in Paris, the Pont Neuf where Halley pointed out the mascarons (I learnt a new word today!) decorating the bridge.  Theses were supposedly caricatures of people who attended the party of ... some king.  They all got rather sloshed and there's even a face which is clearly about to vomit. 

I can't remember why we stood at this part of the Pont Neuf.  I think it's meant to be a cursed/haunted area.  At one end of the Pont Neuf was a statue of the much loved King Henry IV.  He was known for making it possible for all Parisians, rich and poor to have chicken every Sunday.  What a man!!

Next was the Pont des Arts to check out the love padlocks.  

The Pont des Arts along with the Institut de France at one end was where Big told Carrie 'You're the One'.

 

SATC fans unite! 

It was then onto the Lourve and Tuileries Garden. 

It was at the gardens that Mooey joined us, for she had completed her business of the day.  It was also here that Mooey became the only member of the tour group to correctly answer any questions asked by our guide.  She also then liked to provide additional information to his speeches.  She might as well have given the tour herself.

Mooey at Place de la Concorde.  Me posing with the .. you know what.  

We finished up at the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais which was a quick metro ride away from Galeries LaFayette.  Faithful readers of this blog will know that I was in tears last year when I tried to buy some goodies from Sadaharu Aoki.  I had vowed to return and true to my wor, here I was fulfilling stomach duties!

A few sneaky photos of the goodies on offer.

Macarons, cakes and bonbons maquillage ("make-up chocolates") in Frenchie-Japanesie flavours ready for my indulgence.  

I admit.  I didn't need to eat cake or anything sweet for that matter.  I was merely making the most of a lost opportunity.  Before we have the cake, we must have the lunch.  Mooey and I had a very late lunch nearby our hotel at an average cafe whereby I reckon the waiter pretended to not speak English just so he could hear us struggle in our cute, bad French.

My nicoise salad.  Moo with her omelette.  I also had a croque monsieur. 

Mooey on the Eurostar heading back to London.  With her was a bag of el cheapo macarons she purchased in a fit of excitement at Rue Montogueil's market.  They were €10.   

I opened the packet and sampled a few on the ride back to London.  For a cheap packet, you really can't expect much and that's exactly what we got - not much.  I'm certainly no pastry chef, but I know that these little suckers require a fine balance of skill, quality ingredients, ambient temperature and maybe a bit of luck.

One the hallmarks of a good macaron is a smooth shell.  These were definitely bumpy.  

They also didn't contain any filling, rather the two shells were smooshed together.  The shell didn't crumble which is ok I guess and the meringue was airy but not too airy as I have found some Lindt macarons to be.  They tasted ok but I certainly wouldn't buy them again.

Now for the treats bought at the Sadaharu Aoki concession in Galeries LaFayette.  Yes I had intended just to buy macarons but I couldn't help myself once at the counter.

The box didn't enjoy the journey back to London.  I tried my best to straighten the goodies out for a photo.  For all their prettiness, the chosen cakes were the Duomo Mâcha Azuki, a strawberry version of the Duomo Mâcha Azuki (forgotten it's name), Chocolat Pralin and Bamboo.  

I bought all these cakes knowing that Moo and I were going to Germany tomorrow.  I was banking on Smee helping us eat them all but he was a little less than enthusiastic.  What to do?  I had to try and eat most of it myself.  Oh well.

The Duomo Mâcha Azuki with red bean filling. A good fist-sized cake.  I had to eat two fists. 

Disappointingly so, I must have set my expectations very high.   While all the cakes were very nice (Bamboo being my favourite), I can confidently say they don't give me reminiscent happy daydreams.  Maybe because I was pretty much forcing myself to eat them all in one go and that dampened my enjoyment.  Maybe I am all caked-out.

Onto Sadaharu Aoki's macarons.  It was these babies who opened my eyes to the more unconventional flavours and confirmed that they do work!

The flavours were Genmaicha, Wasabi, Matcha, Yuzu (above), Ume (above) and red bean.  

The shells were all beautifully smooth, crisp yet not crumbly.  The meringue dense and almost chewy.  These macarons were MILES better than any of the dry, crumbly things I've had in Oz.  None of the flavours were overpowering (match and genmaicha were mild) and if anything I found the wasabi macaron too mild.  Yuzu was definitely nice but I had no idea was yuzu was until I wrote this post.  The ume was weirdly quite salty, but now I know why - ume is a pickled, salty prune!  Duh.

You would think that would be the end of eating macarons.  Fear not, dear reader, for it I have one more patissier to discuss - Pierre Herme.  The purchase wasn't intentional.  It just so happened that Pierre Herme also has a concession in Galeries Lafayette, weirdly enough near ladies shoes and not in the gourmet department where Sadaharu Aoki was situated.  How could I say no?

They didn't have a very good journey at all.  I settled on salty caramel (above), rose, jasmine (above) and matcha with red bean filling. 

The shells were smooth and crisp and the meringue a bit more dense than SA yet still moist.  Pierre Herme were generous with the filling - I sure didn't have any complaints.  Rose was delicate, yet rosy.  Jasmine was fragrant and quite pleasant too.  Matcha with red bean filling was too sweet.  The salty caramel was FREAKING yum and easily my favourite of all the macarons I've ever had.  Big statement I know, but that's how highly I am ranking it.

Overall, I preferred texture of Pierre Herme's macarons and *gasp* rate them above Sadaharu Aoki.  The best news is that I found out they're sold in Selfridges!!!!!!

Here ends another trip to Paris.  Fret not, next I'll be stuffing my face with the hearty delights of Munich, Germany!