A trip to Paris to discover the Macaron culture

Great looking and tasty, aren't macarons a good reason to treat yourself to a trip to Paris?

If you've been to France, especially to Paris, even just once in all your life, you must have noticed how carefully prepared are patisserie windows. Such a display of many different types of cakes and sweets results in a mix of food libido, mouth watering and also contemplation for what is actually the true art of mastering cakes. French cakes are infact not only tasty but embody also elengance and perfection. Hands down macarons are just the most perfect example.

Macarons are a Paris' typical sweet composed by 2 disks filled with different types of cremes. The dough used for the 2 external disks is similar to meringue and it is the result of a mix of almonds flour, egg white and icing sugar while the traditional creme filling consists of cremé ganache (a mixed of hot creme and chocolate); you can however find some with marmelade and some rare savoury versions (apparently some macarons come with foie gras filling!).

Well, macarons stands out for their smooth surface while if you take a closer look at the sides you will notice the soft filling and the unique creases. However what makes bakery windows with macarons even more spectacular is the variety of colours available. Every colours matches a different taste (you can go from classic raspberry, strawberry, coffee and chocolate all the way to more unusual flavours such as green tea, litchi and rose).

The origins of Macaron are still not very much known, it is said they date back to Caterina de' Medici while some claim it is an ancient 18th-century recipe. We can definitely say that we must thank Pierre Desfontaines and his French patisserie Ladurée for having made macarons so popular and launched them internationally the way we know them today. If you are planning to visit his legendary bakery shops (nowadays the brand Ladurée is available worldwide) we suggest you head to their main headquarters on the Champs Elysées (75, metro George V) and on Rue Royale (16, metro Concorde o Madelaine). We must warn you that you'd better be ready to spend very much if you let yourself go and decide to indulge in too any flavours testing : such a sweet cake could leave a bitter taste in your mouth once you check out the final bill!

Here are 3 more locations where to try more such delicacies:

Pierre Herme: tasty creme but light, soft and airy meringue and a wide choice of increbible flavours, and colourful and creative matches such as strawberry and wasabi, asparagus and olive oil. "Le jour du macaron" - Macaron Day - is Pierre Herme's brainchild, it takes place every year on the 20th of March when everyone can get a free cake by making a donation to the Federation des Maladies Orphelines. You will find several Pierre Herme flag shops around Paris, however we suggest to pop a visit into the one in Les Marais, 18, rue Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie.

Pain de Sucre: that's another place you must check out, it's è un bakery that sells the most bixare macarons available around, as well as similar versions called Krac Krac which come in a slightly longer shape. Simply excellent the cherry and pistachio ones! Be ready to queue since this shop is always very crowded, it's worth it! Pain de Sucre is located on 14, rue rambuteau (always in Les Marais area, metro Rambuteau).

Gérard Mulot: this is aother place where you cannot get wrong, with traditional flavours and more surprisinng ones. Gérard's Macaron are very crunchy and slightly sweeter than the average ones. Some comes with a piece of fruit or chocolate on the external coating. We suggest you try the shop on 76, rue de Seine (Saint Germain area, metro Mabillon o Odéon).

Since you have now become a macaron specialist, you must start thinking of a trip to Paris to decide which one is your favourite patisserie. You'd better know that to get on a macaron-tour is a kind of risky activity, both for you shape and for your wallet! We suggest you decide to save on the other aspects of your Paris trip, starting from your accommodation which we can take care of!

As macarons come in such a wide choice so does Paris' budget hostels. You won't believe it how many hostels can be booked online through Hostelsclub. There are really many to cater for every travel need and budget! To see to belive: would you like to stay in a loft or are you rather a vintage type? It is up to you to decide and with rates starting from 16€ per night you can bet you will save some money to stuff yourself with macarons...bon appetit!