In Paris, bread and the baking of bread is an art form. While most American bakeries sell bread, pastries, and other goodies, many French boulangeries sell different kinds of bread. Pastries are usually sold in pastry shops called patisseries.
Many Parisian bakers are true craftsmen who study their trade for decades and experiment constantly to make a superior product. Some of the best bakers in the city are the fourth or fifth generation in the family.
Bakeries
The most ardent take a three-day exam given by the French government for a title given to only the best -- Meilleur Ouvrier de France or MOF.
Many of the bakeries in Paris have a specialty like rye bread or sourdough. If you're not sure what a boulangerie is famous for, just ask. But go early because the most popular products sell out.
Poilane is the most famous bakery in Paris. It was founded in 1932 by Pierre Poilane, who passed it down to his son, Lionel. When Lionel died in a helicopter crash in 2002, his daughter Apollonia took over the business. She still bakes the bread the old-fashioned way -- in a wood-burning oven. If you come here, order the sourdough miche or the little butter cookies known as punitions. There are two Poilane shops in Paris.
Christophe Vasseur used to be an executive in the fashion industry, but he always wanted to bake bread. So he became an apprentice, leased an old bakery, and opened his bakery -- called Du Pain et des Idees -- in 2002. Vasseur won the Gault Millau prize for best boulangerie in 2008. In addition to baguettes, which take him seven hours to make, he sells croissants, multi-grain bread, and paves filled with veggies or fruit and cheese.
Basile Kamir is a well-respected baker in Paris. He opened Moulin de la Vierge 30 years ago and today he has four locations. He shapes the loaves -- which are made with organic, stone-ground flour -- by hand, and bakes them in a wood-fired oven. The interiors of the shops are really pretty. He also sell pastries -- one of the best is the custard-filled Pain au Raisin.
With 16 shops in Paris and bakeries all over the world, Eric Kayser is something of a phenomenon. His combining of traditional baking techniques with the latest technology allows him to produce 60 types of bread, 50 varieties of cakes, and dozens of kinds of pastries each day. His croissants are some of the best you'll ever eat. And you can buy a ready-made sandwich to eat in the park.
Philippe Gosselin is the place for baguettes. He won the Best Baguette in Paris Grand Prix. He has a special method for making the bread -- kneading the dough, resting it, salting it, kneading it again, and then resting it for three hours. The loaves are hand-shaped and delicious. Gosselin is a fourth-generation baker who also makes sweets, including macarons, cakes, and tarts.
Thierry Dubois is the owner of Pain d'Epis which is not far from the Eiffel Tower. He has a dough made with several kinds of flour that he calls Royale. He uses it to make baguettes, ficelles, and fougasse, which is a flatbread from Provence. If you're in the mood for something sweet, his almond croissants and pain au raisin are excellent.
Guide to the Best Bakeries and Boulangeries in Paris