Ladurée: The birth of the macaron legend

If you love macarons, chances are that you know Ladurée. Known as the inventor of the double-decker macaron, the company is selling about fifteen thousand of them every day. Ladurée started as a bakery founded by Louis-Ernest Ladurée in 1862. The store opened on rue Royale, at the heart of the busy Place de la Madeleine and Village Royale district. The famous macaron only came later on when Pierre Desfontaines, Laduree’s grandson, created it in 1930. Simple macarons were common at that time in France thanks to Queen Catherine de Medici who had brought them from Italy in the 16th century. The Ladurée innovation came from sticking two macaron shells together with a creamy ganache as filling. Et voila, the legend was born.

The same Desfontaines also had the genius idea to open a tearoom inside the bakery to allow women to have a place to socialize since at that time, they were not allowed in cafés. The original bakery & tearoom is still present on rue Royale and attract tourists and locals in large number. Be ready to wait in line if you decide to stop by!

Like most of its competitors, Ladurée has undergone a big expansion in the last 15 years. Since the acquisition of Ladurée by Groupe Holder (owner of the PAUL bakery chain) in 1994, the famous “Maison” has opened an imposing tea salon and restaurant complex on Champs Elysées as well as stores in Japan, Ireland, Monaco, England and Switzerland.

Ladurée on Champs Elysées.


Breakfast at Ladurée.


The tea room on Champs Elysées.

The old charming Champs Elysée building is worth a visit. It’s a nice place to come for the breakfast or later during the day, for a drink at the chic Gaudi-style (contemporary / art deco) bar. Although a bit pricey, a visit in this temple of delight is definitely part of a true Parisian experience.

With 26 different macaron flavors to try and constant new additions depending on the season, it is hard is to leave Ladurée empty. To satisfy your appetite and your budget, the company has developed a large selection of macaron boxes from the “Napoleon” box of 6 (12.50€) to the “Crystal” box of 24 (37.50€). The Ladurée macarons are always fresh and tasty, although some  will argue that the legendary brand did loose a bit of its soul when transitioning to a faster growth path. It is true that in Paris, competition is rather intense in the macaron arena. So the better way to choose your winner, is (unfortunately) for you to try all the different grand names. Enjoy!

Crystal box of 24 (37.50€).

For more information

Ladurée Champs Elysées
75, avenue des Champs Elysées (8th arrondissement)
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 75 08 75
Open Monday to Sunday
7:30am – 11:30pm

Ladurée Royale
16 rue Royale (8th arrondissement)
Tel: +33 (0)1 42 60 21 79
Open Monday to Saturday
8:30am to 7:30pm
Sunday: 10am to 7pm
Company's website 

Interactive map

Check out our interactive map of Paris to see where I took all the pictures featured in this article.

Dazzling carnation heart design for Valentine's day

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, you may be looking for some more options to impress your sweetheart. You may know it or not, but Valentine's and Mother's Day weeks are the busiest time for the floral industry. The impact for you the consumer, is that during that period, you will pay more, sometimes twice as more, for your flowers. This is especially true for roses that are the most in demand during these periods. Because carnations are so affordable, they represent a good alternative to create a stunning design at a fraction of the price.

In the design featured in this article, we are using a heart shape container filled with floral foam, and topped with some gorgeous pink carnation heads. The result is an amazing creation that will definitely wow your Valentine without emptying your wallet. This type of arrangement is also very appropriate for a wedding event as the heart shape design can be used in repetition as centerpieces, or as accent decor for a buffet table.

Don't be afraid to express your emotions with this very easy design. You will have a lot of fun designing it. Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's design with carnations

1 heart shaped box
Spray paint, cream color*
1 brick of floral foam
10 - 12 "Hot pink" carnations
1 or 2 stems of seeded eucalyptus
Moss
1 small wooden heart on a stick*

* Optional, available at Art & Craft stores

Prepare your container by spray painting it if needed. Make sure you let it dry for a couple of hours before using it. You can also spray paint the small wooden hearts in gold and glue it to a wooden stick.

Soak your floral foam and shape it to fit the container. Bevel the foam so that it won’t get any higher than the edge of the box.

Place your carnations straight, making sure the stem is deep enough (1 ½ inch) but still does not touch the bottom. If your carnations are a bit tight, gently fluff their heads to make them look bigger.

Continue the design by placing the seeded eucalyptus in between the flower heads as well as around the container to add some movements. Finally, conceal the foam with the moss, especially around the edge of the container.

Deluxe shopping in the 8th arrondissement

Paris is the fashion capital of the world. Fashionistas come here by the millions in quest for the latest trends in style. Even if you are not Rachel Zoe, hard is it to resist the fashion pilgrimage when you are visiting Paris. The best location to see the most fabulous boutiques and luxurious flagship stores is the 8th arrondissement. Walking down on Champs Elysées then forking off on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré up to Place de la Madeleine will give you plenty of opportunities to be dazzled by the queens and kings of fashion.

The best place to start your shopping day is on Champs Elysées, one of the largest avenues in Paris and also known as “the most beautiful avenue in the world”. Starting up at the Arc the Triomphe, the Champs Elysée runs for 2 km (1.25 miles) to end in Place de la Concorde. With all the walking and shopping in sight, it is important to start with a fashionable breakfast. The most stylish address on Champs Elysées since 1901 is Fouquet’s. Located inside the luxurious Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere Paris, Fouquet’s is considered as a real Parisian institution and a seen-and-be-seen spot. Always filled with personalities from the show business and the political scene, Fouquet’s is also a preferred address for the royalty as it was the case when we visited the restaurant. Although reservations are usually required for lunch and dinner, if you arrive early for breakfast, you will find a table with a nice view. Don’t forget your sunglasses (for the paparazzi!)

Lunch and Diner menu découverte at 89€, entree from 35€ to 85€


Two breakfast options (15€ and 19€) are available as well as a la carte items.

With your breakfast finished, you won’t have to go far to start your shopping day. Right across Fouquet’s and at the corner of the prestigious Gorge V Avenue, is the Louis Vuitton flagship store in Paris. Open in October 2005, the 161,000-square-foot, four-story store is Vuitton’s largest boutique and is resolutely dedicated to the foreign clientele. Nothing is too big to flirt with the 25 million tourists who stroll the French capital annually. Designed to make shopping fun and entertaining though a labyrinthine “promenade” scheme, the mega-emporium is sometimes stared at with a bit of perplexity by the French population.

In a country where glamorous shopping is regarded as an uplifting, quasi-spiritual endeavor, the concept of playful and entertaining goes against the very concept of luxury. (However, four other Louis Vuitton stores exist in Paris to satisfy the need of a more traditional shopping experience.) In any event, whether you like or not like to be entertained, a visit to the 101 Champs Elysées address is worth a visit.

Going down just a little bit on George V Avenue, and you will face another iconic hotel: The George V now part of the Four Seasons chain. Located at that luxurious hotel is Hediard, one of the largest and oldest specialty food store in Paris. Although Hediard’s flagship store is on Place de la Madeleine, right across Fauchon, the prestigious location of this store makes it worth a detour.

Heading back on Champs Elysées, you will find another amazing store from The House of Guerlain. Guerlain is among the oldest perfume houses in the world and is still held in high esteem in the perfume industry. The company has been owned and managed by members of the Guerlain family from the date of its creation in 1828 to 1994, the year it was acquired by the LVMH group. Since its foundation, the House of Guerlain has created over 300 fragrances with Shalimar still being one of the most popular.

For over 150 years, Guerlain was solely dedicated on perfumes. But since it’s inclusion in the LVMH portfolio, the company has now developed a complete line of beauty product and make-up, and launched 8 ultra luxurious Spas around the world, the Champs Elysée location being one of them. Each of the Guerlain’s 11 boutiques around the world has an incredible architecture and design that links the past and the future. Steping into a Guerlain boutique is indeed a blissful experience, appealing to all the senses.

After the pilgrimage in the beauty temple, it’s time to fork off to rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. This street is another prestigious address of the Parisian scene. First of all, this is were you will find the Palais de l’Elysée, house of the French government, but also a multitude of luxurious boutiques in a typical narrow Parisian street. If you are starting to feel a little bit “weak”, you can always pick-up a delicious pastry at Dalloyau on your way down to Place de la Madeleine. How convenient is that?

A beautiful address on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré is the Hermes flagship store, which is also the company’s headquarters since 1878. The entire building belongs to Hermes and there is still a “sellerie” (saddlery) on the grounds, proving the company stays true to its noble origins. Although the store has been redesigned many times, it still carries a timeless elegance thanks to its tiled floors and old-fashioned main staircase. For true Hermes fans, a pilgrimage to this store alone is worth a trip to Paris.

Beautiful "air Ballon" decor on the Hermes facade




Le Palais de l'Elysée

Continuing your journey on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, you will finally reach Place de La Madeleine. Right in front of you, you will see a Laduree tearoom with the usual line-up in the street (especially during the holidays). If you continue on Rue Royale toward Place de la Madeleine, you will discover the last attraction of our fashion journey: Le Village Royale. This prestigious village in the heart of Paris has inherited the legacy of almost three centuries of architectural patrimony. Created in 1746 to accommodate the local commercial and market activity, the village has grown into a genuine village within the city. Today, the pedestrian street filled with luxurious boutiques and nice cafés, offers a relaxing environment in the heart of a vibrant city.

Dior boutique inside Village Royale


Chanel boutique inside Village Royale

A nice late lunch or early dinner at Le Café Fauchon or La Table d’Hediard, both conveniently located on Place de la Madeleine, will conclude with style an exhausting but fulfilling shopping day!

For more information

Fouquet's restaurant
99 av. des Champs-Elysées
Open daily: 8am – 2am
Tel: +33 (0)1 47 23 50 00
Website

Interactive map

Check out our interactive map of Paris to see where I took all the pictures featured in this article.

Love and Romance: A Bridal Bouquet in Red and Kisses

Red flowers can be a very bold but beautiful choice for a wedding bouquet. Think about stunning red roses against a white gown. What a beautiful and modern contrast this would create. Red as a color carries so many meanings that are truly appropriate for a wedding event. Love, romance, fidelity, deep emotions, what more is there to say for such an important day.

The featured bridal bouquet for this month of February is a hand-tied bouquet created with red roses and carnations. The combination of these 2 flowers not only creates an interesting texture but also slightly decreases its cost as carnation are quite affordable. The unexpected (and sweet!) element here comes from the use of Kisses chocolates that of course, you can omit. As for the bouquet handle, I used a nice piece of chinese fabric to give a asian twist to the creation.

Materials
24 stems of red roses
24 stems of red carnations
24 Kisses (Hershey)
24 florist wires
1/3 yard of fabric

Fauchon: Haute Couture Gastronomy

Place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement, is home of the top luxury gourmet store in France. We are of course talking about Fauchon! Open in 1886 by Auguste Fauchon, the store was at that time selling unusual and refined product such as tea and spices. For more than a century, Fauchon has sold its luxury products to royalty, politicians and movie stars. Today, the luxurious emporium serves its impeccable food to the rank and file. But still, you may feel a bit special when you pass the door of this modern temple of gastronomy.

Fauchon cannot be missed on Place de La Madeleine. Occupying 3 street numbers, the flagship store showcases the complete range of its offering. The Delicatessen and Patisserie store enlists everything you can dream of for a dazzling dinner. From caviar and appetizers to gourmet entrees, everything is presented here with a high sense of style. Fauchon is also a bakery with many homemade breads, Danish pastries and a sweet & savory Madeleine bar. Finally a fine grocery boutique offers the visitors a broad range of products already packaged and ready to go.

The Haute Couture image of Fauchon is attributable to Laurent Adamowicz who bought the 114-year-old company in 1998. He reworked completely the brand image and started the first advertising campaign on the theme of fashion in 1999. Since then, Fauchon has open over 650 franchises worldwide and many tea salons in Japan, South Korea, Tawain, the Middle East and Europe, where it is considered as an ambassador of French gastronomy. Sadly, the brand has not been very successful in the North America. The gorgeous $3 million New York store that was located on 442 Park Avenue closed its doors in 2007 and only 7 franchises remain in all the US.

The fine grocery boutique and Le Cafe is located on the 2nd floor


Window display (Holiday 09)


The caviar bar


The patisserie and delicatessen boutique

Fauchon is famous for its amazing patisseries. Under the direction of Christophe Adam, the team of 65 pastry chefs is known for its creative spirit, balancing the repertoire of classics with a consistently evolving collection of nouveautés. Each season, the house releases new flavors and signature cakes. This holiday season was under the theme Folie Douce (Sweet madness) with a profusion of Foie Gras, caviar and scallop mini verrines, and a new sumptuous collection of Éclairs.

Looking through the refrigerated window, all you see is a sea of color and beauty. It is rather hard to resist as everything is so artfully presented. The ultra modern and sleek décor is the creation of the famous designer Christian Biecher who also designed the Tokyo, Peking, Casablanca and Dubai Tea salons.

Box of 6 macarons: 9.50 €

On the second floor of the 30 Place de la Madeleine, you will find Le Café Fauchon, a highly contemporary space also designed by Christian Biecher. The décor blends perfectly the color of La Maison Fauchon: pale pink tables, black and white caning seats and silver accents. If you are lucky to sit close from the window, you will get a breathtaking view on Place de la Madeleine, it’s church and flower market.

Le Café is open for lunch and dinner and also host special events on Holidays. We were very lucky to be there to celebrate 2010 New Year’s Eve where we enjoyed a 5 courses dinner with champagne and rosé wine, while enjoying a live show. For 150€ per person, that was an excellent deal. At lunchtime, a meal for two will cost you around 80€ (excluding alcohol).

Whether you come for lunch or for dinner, don’t miss the dessert tray, which is actually the most interesting part of the meal. All the desserts available on that day will be presented to you, so make sure to keep some space for an Éclair or a Millefeuille. For Lunch or dinner, Le Café Fauchon is definitely to be included on your list during your next trip to Paris. Make sure you book your table in advance, especially if you are visiting during a holiday.

Le Café Fauchon


Éclair Précieux Or (Salted caramel) - part of the new collection: 9€ at the Café (6€ at the retail boutique)


Millefeuille Vanille Bourbon: 12€ at the Café (6€ at the retail boutique)

For more information

Fauchon

24 – 26 – 30 Place de la Madeleine

75008 Paris

Tel: +33 (0)1 70 39 38 00

Website 

Delicatessen, Patisserie and Bakery
24 – 26 Place de la Madeleine
Open Monday trough Saturday
8AM – 9PM

Fine Grocery boutique
30 Place de la Madeleine
Open Monday through Saturday
9am to 8PM

Le Café Fauchon
30 Place de la Madeleine
Tel: +33 (0)1 70 39 38 39
Open Monday through Saturday
9AM-12PM

Interactive map

Check out our interactive map of Paris to see where we took all the pictures featured in this article.