Is it possible to say that the French is obsessed with the baguette? A French breakfast is to be completed with baguette always. When you are seated in French restaurant, it is also quite a tradition that the waiters will bring you baguette to eat with your meal. Plus, it could be said that you can find baguette in every French bakery shop in France.
After having a look at some reviews and asking some French neighbors, we noticed that a good baguette should be crunchy at the outside and once we tear up the bread, it is supposed to reveal the chewy texture and the bubble holes at the inside. The color inside the bread should be in pale-ivory. Still, as baguette represents the image of French meal and appears in a lot of French related character, Paris publishes yearly the list of the best baguettes in Paris called “Grand Prix de la baguette de la Ville de Paris” and that could be a guide in case that you are looking where to buy French baguette. As being based in Paris, we decided to go out and taste the best five baguettes of Paris 2019.
The baker Fabrice Leroy is now known as the best baguette maker of 2019 thanks to the competition “Grand Prix de la baguette de la Ville de Paris”. According to his interview with a French press “leparisien”, he was quite surprised as he has just started this career just for less than three years after quitting his job as an project manager at SNCF (French National Railway Company). This small bakery shop is outstading with its green façade and the clear sign of the first prize of the competition « Grand Prix de la baguette de la Ville de Paris in 2019 ». Getting inside, we saw that the traditional baguette (baguette tradition) shelf was quite empty and that could explain a lot the reputation of the baguettes here. The golden color at the outside plus with the smell of artisanal bread was welcoming to have a bite. The texture at the inside was also sticky soft with a slight hint of salty taste.
Address: 203 Avenue Daumesnil, 75012 Paris
Opening hours : Daily 7:00 – 20:00, Closed on Monday
Transportation : Metro Line 6 Daumesnil Station
Website : boulangerie-leroymonti.business.site/
This bakery shop is a bit different from others in the list as it also provides some small tables that you can enjoy bakery and some hot drinks inside the shop. Even though, the shop is not that big but you can still take some rest after a long walk in Paris. As the name of the shop means “Dear Two Angels”, the sign of the shop is then decorated with two small angel figures. Not only breads, but this bakery shop also provides a lots of tempting French pastry like macarons, fruit tarts and any different types of cake for example. Again, the outside of the baguette here is obviously golden and reveal the chewy texture which is one of the common criteria of a good baguette.
Address : 23 Rue Daval, 75011 Paris
Opening hours : Tuesday to Sunday 7:00 – 20:30
Transportation : Metro Line 5 or 1 Bastille Station
Located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris which is so called “quartier latin”, Paris&Co Ecoles looks always full with young Parisians enjoying their meal. The bakery shop provides choices of bread, cake, salad, soup and drinks. It is possible to say that you can have a complete meal here. Inside the shop, there are also tables where you can enjoy your fresh meal in a quite modern decoration in the tone of black and white color. The baguette here looked the fattest compared to others and the texture outside seemed to be the crunchiest from all five baguettes in the list.
Address : 4, bis Rue des Ecoles 75005
Opening hours : Daily 6:30 – 21:00
Transportation : Bus line 47 Cardinal Lemoine stop
Stood out with the pink sign « BOULOANGERIE », Le Délice de Bagnolet could be clearly seen from across the street. Once getting inside the shop you can secretly see a small door to their baking room. You can clearly see that the bread there were brought out directly from the oven and to be served. It looks more lively and exciting with a sneaky peek into the baker room.
Address : 42 Boulevard Mortier, 75020 Paris
Opening hours : Daily 7:00 – 20:00
Transportation : Metro Line 6 Porte de Bagnolet station
Located in Le Marais area, Tout Autour du Pain presents their shop with the outstanding black façade decorated with gold sign “BOULANGERIE”. This bakery shop is guaranteed with three times winner in the baguette competition. Apart from that, it is also very well-known for the best croissant in town. After having taste the baguettes from all five bakeries, I would prefer this one the most. Even though I mentioned earlier that it is hard to recognize the taste of this French bread but the baguette here clearly showed some differences in taste and the level of crispiness was the most decent. Plus, I also felt it saltier than other four baguettes which, in my opinion, helps create more appetite.
Address : 134 Rue de Turenne 75003
Opening hours : Monday to Friday 6:30 – 20:30, Saturday to Sunday 06:30 – 19:30
Transportation : Metro Line 11, 9 or 5 République station, Metro line 8 Filles du Calvaire station
The baguette itself is originally not a savory bread. You can eat it separately, with butter, cheese, jam or dip it in the sauce on your main dishes. Baguette is normally served in every French meal before starting your appetizer in any restaurant. The obsession of baguette of French is in the level that they even have the regulations for baguette. To be considered as a baguette, a bread should be 50 – 60 centimeters in length and 5-6 centimeters in width. The price of baguette is actually affordable. It usually costs not over 1.50 euros depending on the type of the baguette and the bakery shops. Believe it or not, there are more than 30,000 bakeries in France. Let’s imagine how many baguettes are baked daily !
Words : Supawadee Pinkhao
Photographs : Olga Andrianova