Galeries Lafayette, Paris

Yesterday was my last day of wandering around in Paris. Today I'll be flying back to hubby and my kittykins. Decided to check Galeries Lafayette out since it's so famous and all.

Galeries Lafayette actually consists of 3 big buildings, the main building (Lafayette Coupole) sells women's stuff and has a food court at the top floor, the second building (Lafayette Homme) sells men's stuff and has a gourmet supermarket, and the third (Lafayette Maison) sells home decorating stuff. It's a huge departmental store selling mostly designer goods, sort of like Robinsons on steroids.

This is the main concourse area of the main building. At the apex of the ceiling is a dome (not shown here). The walls have beautiful carnival-like ornate fixtures and painting, with latticed grilles at the balconies. Very pretty!

I went to the rooftop, and the view from there was superb. Galeries Lafayette is directly behind the Paris Opera House.

The Eiffel Tower in the distance.

And then I went to the food court which is one level below the roof top. They have a spread of yummy-looking tarts and cakes.

More cakes.

Desserts of every kind.

Even more cake.

The cream/mousse type of desserts in a glass.

I personally picked the bavaroise (3.10 Euros), which is a rich sweet cream-based dessert topped with assorted berries. Sort of like ice cream, just not cold. It was very filling, and very good.

The sitting area of the food court.

The gourmet supermarket section at the men's building (Lafayette Homme) also sells cakes and desserts. Paris is a heaven for the sweet-toothed.

Les Bougresses, rue de Jarente, Paris

It was a sub-zero freezing day and my colleagues and I were wandering around the Le Marais area in Paris. Close to dinner time, we decided to dine at Les Bougresses, a cozy little corner restaurant in that area.

The entrance. I like the potted plants hanging overhead.


The beautiful dining area. The ambience was perfect, cozy and candlelit, with music wafting through the air.

The small bar.

View of outside from within.

The set menu (24 Euros) that I chose out of.

We snacked on cut carrots and creamy herb dip while waiting for the appetizers to arrive.

From the set menu, I chose the French onion soup, which is one of the must-trys when in France. Warm, fragrant and surprisingly light. It had a piece of cheese-covered toast and onion slices floating in it.

One of my colleagues ordered ala carte, and had this duck appetizer.

My main course was beef steak in cream sauce, served with mashed potatoes. I specified well-done, but the steak was a tad pink in the middle. French chefs will never cook the steak through and through. It was very good though, succulent, well-seasoned, slightly burnt on the outside for that smoky flavour. Despite the pink middle, it did not taste raw.

Another colleague chose the fish dish, it came wrapped in foil. Very Jamie Oliver.

My other colleague had veal.

Dessert for me was a huge bowl of creme brulee, with the top glazed with burnt caramelised sugar. Absolutely wonderful! Crunchy sugar on top, and soft, rich creme brulee underneath. Best I've ever had.

My other colleague had crepe served with cream.

Les Bougresses
6, rue de Jarente - Paris 75004
Tel : 01 48 87 71 21
Subway : Saint-Paul
Seats : 60
Dinner only

Our rating system for overall satisfaction with what we eat and where we eat....

1-bam = don't even bother
2-bam = good enough to fill the tummy
3-bam = a very good restaurant in its category
4-bam = excellent cooking, worth a detour
5-bam = exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

I would give this restaurant a 4-bam rating for excellent food, ambience and service.

Patisserie madness!

The French LOVE their desserts. And so do I, they are so pretty to look at, and the best part is, they taste as wonderful as they look. Everywhere I go, I see patisseries.......it's a thriving business here.

Yesterday I found my first big supermarket in Paris. And it had a huge spread of cakes, tarts, breads, pastries of every kind, at very reasonable prices.I bought the strawberry tarts, 2 for 2.60 Euros.

ALso bought the raspberry tarts, 2 for 2.65 Euros.

This was a bargain, a platter of 6 different desserts, at 4.30 Euros. Still plodding through it.

The following pictures are random shots of the various patisseries that I've passed by and been attracted to check out, like a kid in the candy store.....

La Tarte Tropezienne Patisserie, Paris

I was walking down this narrow road, with the Eiffel Tower in mind, cold and hungry from the rain, when the smell and sight of a plethora of desserts greeted me from a little bakery. Of course, here they call it a patisserie.

It looked so warm, inviting and tempting that I just had to go in.

The window display held the bread spread.

Pretty.
My eyes were big like saucers, looking at this delicious spread of sugary goodness. Sort of like Enid Blyton's Enchanted Tree world come alive and all these lovely desserts were growing wild by the roadside, ripe for the picking.

Greedy girl ogles the spread.


Huge buns filled with cream.


I finally settled for the Millefeuille (2 Euros) which was a "cake" made of alternate layers of flaky pastry and rich cream. Excellent, though a tad too rich for one person in one sitting. 3/4 into the Millefeuille, I was having problems swallowing as it was just so sweet! Oh, but I loved it nonetheless.



Next time I'm in a patisserie, I'm going to try the colourful, luscious fruit tarts and eclairs.