Patisseries in Paris

I have a sweet tooth, and obviously, I was looking forward to eat some wonderful pastries in Paris. Just before leaving a friend told me that she was disappointed with the pastries in Paris, because they look better than they taste. I totally agree with her. Not all of Paris patisseries are good or worth the calories and the price.


These are my favorite patisseries in Paris

Dallayou
There are a few of them in the city. One is located across from the Luxembourg Gardens. Everything I tried in this place was excellent and my husband's favorite dessert in Paris is from here. They also sell in the Gallerie Lafayette department store's gourmet food section. The prices in this bakery are lower than my next suggestions. There are some pics



Fauchon
This legendary gourmet establishment in Paris also sells pastries. They are great, beautiful and also very expensive. I did not try them but I did have lunch in their cafeteria and bought bread several times. I am assuming that considering the quality of their breads and lunch dishes, the pastries must be delicious too.

Laduree
This is a classical place for tea in Paris. They have a few locations. The one I visited a couple of times was the one on Rue Royale. Inside, this place looks like a jewelry box. It is small and it can be noisy because table are really close to each other.

I had the Marie Antoinette tea and we shared a couple of pastries. The pastries are great, my favorite was the Saint-Honoré rose-framboise - it was delightful, the best dessert I have ever had. I read a lot on the Internet about the Tarte Citron. I ordered it and I did not like it a lot; this just shows how taste is so personal. Their hot chocolate is famous and delicious.

Laduree is expensive even by New York or Paris standards. I think it is a good (expensive) place for tea but for the price I would not have lunch here.




Lenotre
There are various locations in the city. This is another legendary establishment. Their creations are beautiful and delicious. It is also expensive.

Pierre Herme
It is a favorite place among Parisians for chocolates. Their pastries are a work of art and taste wonderful. The place is also expensive and there are lines to shop most of the time.

Product review: Annique Rooibos ResQue Crème

The Annique line is a South African cosmetics company. Most of their products are based on the use of Rooibos tea as a key ingredient. As you may know, Rooibos tea is a drink from South Africa rich in antioxidants and it has good flavor too.

The creator of Annique uses the same ingredient for skin care due to its antioxidant content. One of the products is the ResQue crème. I got to know the skin care line years ago at a skin care trade show in NYC. A few months later I tried the ResQue Crème.

According to its description, it provides relief for many every day skin conditions such as itchy skin, dry and cracked skin, minor scratches, heat rash, pimples, eczema, insect bites and everyday chafing and skin irritations. I used the crème while traveling to India, it helped to keep my skin hydrated during the long flight and also during the trip.

It has a thick consistency and that makes it difficult to apply, but it really helps to soften dry areas and calms the skin. This is a cream worth having at home.

It is not easy to get it in the United States, not even online. There are some sellers in Canada.

Product review: La Roche-Posay Nutritic

I got a sample of this cream at CVS. It is a moisturizing cream for dry skin and it comes in 2 concentrations: 2.5% and 5%. I tried the 5% concentration and this is what we found out:

My skin is not very dry and it tends to break out, but I was feeling it to be dry at the end of winter, so I tried the cream since I love to try new creams and cosmetics. I was pleasantly surprised by this moisturizer.

Most creams for dry skin are heavy or leave residues on the skin, but not this one. It is rich, but it gets absorbed fast and it leaves the skin fresh and hydrated. Besides that it helped my skin feel and look better. The cream has an ingredient that I do not like: Petrolatum. It may block the pores and cause pimples in people with acne tendencies. My skin tends to develop pimples and the cream did not cause them. Petrolatum (petroleum jelly or Vaseline) is a common ingredient in many creams, but with the growing tendency toward natural ingredients, its use is declining.

This is a good moisturizer for dry skin at a reasonable price of about $26.