globetrotting with Cecile: Day 16 : Charming Corner Bakery + Yummy Goodness

Bonjour from rainy Paris! Unfortunately the weather has turned gray here on the other side of the Atlantic, but glad to say that didn't stopped Yasuyo and I from venturing out :-) Joining us on our little adventure this time was her friend Danni visiting all the way from New York! (ah, how I miss the Big Apple...) Anyway, after two weeks in Paris, Miss Y and I were getting a little tired of the usually touristy shopping meccas (Le Bon Marché, GL, and Printemps) and really wanted to discover more of the "local" fashion scene in Paris. Thankfully, Charline, a new study group buddy from class, suggested that we check out a few streets in the 10e arrondissement, rue Beaurepaire and rue de Marseille. Well, Charline didn't disppoint us...

In many ways, the scene reminded me a lot of the boutiques on Mulberry Street and Elizabeth Street of Nolita in New York. Rue Beaurepaire and rue de Marseille were peppered with a couple of vintage stores, a cool gift shop and a handful and awesome Parisian up-and-coming designers. Notable mentions include a great Cashmere/knitwear store, Marie-Sixtine, and hip young brand, Des Petits Hauts. Though, oddly enough, my favorite find of the day ended up being nothing fashion related at all! Instead, while strolling on way back to the Metro, we also stumbled upon this gem tucked away on a street corner of Rue Yves Toudic... Du Pain et Des Idées!

Du Pain et Des Idées | 10e arrondissement

At first, Du Pain et Des Idées looked liked your typical charming little corner bakery in Paris, though we found it quite odd that was a long queue out the door at almost 7pm...? Could it seriously be that good?

Love the charming old character of this bakery... found out it dates all the way back to 1889! | Du Pain et Des Idées

Peaking through the windows, I noticed all the baskets and were nearly empty of bread and the counters were sparse with a few puff pastries. Since we had nothing better (and since we did come to the 10e to explore the neighborhood after all!), we figured we had nothing better to do than to fall in line as well ;-) After about 20 mins, I finally managed to order some treats--a mini-pavé au frommage de chèvre et epinard (aka. goat cheese and spinach) and a chausson à la pomme fraîche. I quickly devoured the mini spinach-stuffed snack in all of three seconds! Luckily, I saved the pomme until I got home... which disappeared in all a matter of seconds, too!

Overall, I must say the wait was definitely worth it. Quite curious to learn more about my favorite find of the day, I did a little bit of research on Google afterwards... It turns out that the lovely gentleman who served me earlier was the baker himself, Christophe Vasseur, and that he had been voted the Best Baker in Paris by famous gourmet magazine Gault & Millau!