I embarked on this journey with my friend Michelle who was also intrigued with Paris. We both wanted to experience the city more like a Parisian and less like a tourist. We were eager to walk the city with no real destination and hang out at cafés while people watching.
We stayed at a lovely french hotel, Hôtel de l'Abbaye located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, an area in the 6th arrondissement (district) of Paris. I would return to this hotel and neighborhood in a heartbeat. This is a residential area filled with french cafés, bakeries, shopping and schools. I instantly felt at home walking up and down the narrow streets and discovering what this gem of a neighborhood has to offer.
After having lunch at a cafe where I had a the freshest salad full of crisp green beans that I'm convinced were picked from a garden out back, I needed an authentic chocolate croissant. As we were exploring Saint-Germain, we came across a bakery called Poilâne. Completely unaware of it's popularity, we later discovered that not only is it frequented by the locals as pictured below, but also the wonderful bread basket provided daily at our hotel for breakfast was procured from Poilâne. Once inside the smell of wonderful baked goods welcomed us. We quickly realized that this establishment takes their business seriously. The employees wear white lab coats and the locals swiftly place their orders and continue on their way. I did get my delicious chocolate croissant (a request made by the way, using my very rusty high school french) but I fell in love with their shortbread cookies. After the first bite, I could taste the purity of the ingredients with the outstanding flavor being butter. These were not cookies that I could eat a pack of in minutes but they were rich, buttery cookies that deserved to be savored.
During this wonderful first day in Paris, I discovered Saint-Germain was a place that I needed to explore again during this trip. In addition to finding my favorite bakery, I would later find my favorite pharmacy and neighborhood coffee shop, Lili's Brownies. Ah, my home away from home.