Bread

There are so many bakeries to choose from and so many bread options. After trying several bakeries in the neighborhood, I generally go back to the same small one at the end our street. I get to know the vendors and when I come in early (7am) dressed for a hike, the vendor wants to know where I'm going and then sends me on my way, wishing me a good hike. I like that!

When I come later in the afternoon to buy baguette for dinner, the one vendor almost always asks me if I want a dessert to go with the bread. You see my predicament? She knows I like trying desserts.

This is the Bourbon bakery at the one end of our street, where there is an artisan baker (boulanger) and pastry (pâtissier) chef.

Bread usually comes in a paper sleeve. This one is a "baguette 6 céréales"-6 grain baguette for 1,60€.

Notice the paper sleeve.

"Made from flour from 100 % French wheat."

"This bread was kneaded, shaped, and baked by your artisan baker in his bakery."

There are a lot of industrially-produced breads in France, and so this serves as a reminder that this bread is all French, including the flour, and made by a baker, not a machine.

A sourdough (au levain) and rye (seigle) baguette, mini croissants, and fruit and nut bread.

At the other end of our street is another bakery--Maison Lenoir. It is a much smaller bakery, but I like it. If you can't eat a whole baguette, which is the case for households of one or two, you can order a "demi-baguette". I like the option, since the basic baguette becomes stale by the end of the day.

—for the love of bread—packaging from another bakery nearby

I saw this in the bakery a couple of days ago and bought one today. Bread with a cause!

"Baguette full of love in order to end AIDS". For every baguette purchased, one euro is given to causes that fight against AIDS.