Paris vs New York - Vahram Muratyan book review

I have a whole heap of overdue book reviews to write up... so stay tuned!

I can never understand those people who say "I hate Facebook" and refuse to use it.. without it I wouldn't be able to find out about new and interesting things, and I wouldn't have found out about this awesome little book.

Perhaps you've seen this awesome image before: Macaron vs Cupcake. I had. Except I never bothered to look into who created it or why/how it was created, etc. Well it's created by the genius that is Vahram Muratyan. The Parisian graphic artist has made an indepth cultural observation and comparison between two great cities, Paris and New York, by way of some simple and gorgeous illustrations.

Look at this image for example. If you were going to compare these two big airports Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and John F Kennedy (JFK) what would you think of drawing? An airport? Some planes taking off? Some people pulling suitcases? He doesn't. That's why I call him a genius. He draws the path of a plane in the shape of a profile of the person the airport was named after. Is that not genius? He makes something complicated (like how would you draw an airport exactly anyway?) simple and easy to understand. And beautiful.

Despite the fact that you can see many of his works on his blog (link below) this was a book I simply had to have, being a lover of Paris and large cities in general, and all things graphical and beautiful. :)

I read it with my Parisian boyfriend this weekend and we tried to work out the meanings and links between the images. Sometimes it's not so obvious as there are abbreviations and slang and you have to know Parisian/French and American culture well. We got all of them except one or two.

As I'm so fascinated, I found some articles about this guy and his book:

* Interview in English
* Another interview in English. Page 1 | Page 2
* Interviews (and videos) in French (also pasted below)






* Buy the book here on Amazon Paris versus New York: A tale of two cities
* Buy the prints (pack of 100 postcards) Paris versus New York Postcard Box: A Tally of Two Cities in 100 Postcards
* Read the blog The blog: Paris vs New York

Disclaimer: I have no connection at all to the author or publisher but love this amazing little book so much I highly recommend you get your own copy to keep! :D

(top picture from here)

French people pronouncing or not pronouncing 'h' at the start of a word

There is a strange phenomenon that happens with French people and the letter 'h'. Since they are used to not pronouncing it at the beginning of a word in their own language, eg hôtel is pronounce otel, they tend to not pronounce it in English either, ie house becomes ouse. OK fair enough, that's understandable...

What is not understandable is, they seem to add on (and pronounce) a mysterious 'h' sound to the start of various words that begin with a vowel. I noticed this ever since I started learning French and having Skype chats with French people over the internet.. then I noticed it when I was teaching English in French, and now, hanging around French or French-speaking people, I notice it more than ever. It is SO weird and cracks me up!

For example, I was having a conversation about fruit and 'happles and bananas' came up.. and I was like WTF is a happle? and we both just laughed like crazy.

But then, English - being the annoying language that it is - trips up these poor Frenchies because then we have words like hour where the 'h' is not pronounced. Frustrating, huh? (and that's huh with an 'h' sound ;) )

That got me onto the topic of the letter 'h'. Is it pronounced 'aitch' or 'haitch'? From what I know, only people from lower class backgrounds pronounce it 'haitch' with a strong 'h' sound at the beginning and there shouldn't be one there. To make sure and to prove my point I did a quick search online and found this article which led me to this hilarious Youtube video. Go, watch it now!



What's coincidental (if you watch the video) is that I also had a conversation today where I said I was SURE it was espresso and not expresso. Of course I was right ;)

Ever since I went to school I've been good at spelling... and now I'm so good at it that I can even correctly spell French words that a French person cannot spell :P and don't get me started when people call macarons macaroons!

In the end it's good to be good at spelling. I grew up in Australia where people seem to be proud of the fact that they are bad at it (which drives me up the wall). But I've always found it easy and been good at it. This skill is rather useful... if only for proving others wrong :P

Laduree Boxes

If you have been a long-time reader of my blog you'll know that I'm a macaronaholic! The thing is, I liked them more when they weren't so common and every man and his dog didn't start up a macaron shop somewhere (or even in their own kitchen), just like I liked Apple Computers more when everyone didn't have something that is made by Apple.. but I digress.

Luckily for me, even though I don't live in Paris, I have a Ladurée so close to me (within walking distance!). I notice the beautiful and ever-changing window displays and I have been meaning to buy a beautiful keepsake limited-edition gift box for so long but they are only in the stores for about a week or so.. and by the time I actually get around to it they are always already sold out! ARGH.

You can check out their Facebook fanpage for all the latest news... meanwhile here is their latest box by Japanese fashion designer Tsumori Chisato (to be released 1 March):

and here is the previous one they had for Valentine's Day:

Nice, huh? :)

Macarons in McDonalds in France

Yeah Yeah I realise this is old news but considering I NEVER eat at McDonalds.. this was the first time I noticed them for myself (at a McDonalds on the outskirts of Annemasse). They cost 0,90€ each and no, I didn't try them! I don't think anything could compare to Ladurée, Pierre Hermé and Sève in Lyon.

Only Lyon

Tomorrow I am going back to my beloved Lyon!!! How I love this city so. If I didn't end up in Geneva I would've really liked to move to and work and live in Lyon.

This will be my fifth time there (I think). Sounds like a lot but the last time was 4 months ago in the middle of winter. It'll be nice to see it in the (almost) summer for the first time. Every time I've been I've done something different, and seen a different part of the city. Tomorrow I'm off to do something a little boring but I'll have to keep it a secret until it gets 'resolved' and then I'll definitely report about it back here on my blog in a few weeks' time.

I'm not really sure what else I'm gonna do or check out tomorrow but I am DYING to go back to Sève chocolatier/pâtissier to get me some of those one-of-a-kind awesomely delicious macarons!

(image from here)

A White Christmas in Paris I

View Paris Christmas 2010 trip in a larger map


A LONG diary entry about my time in Paris over Christmas (Part I)


22 December, 2010 (Wednesday)

... I was waiting for train which came one hour late, at Karlsruhe station (freezing my butt off since I was technically waiting outdoors even though there was a roof).

The train then stopped in Strasbourg (with technical difficulties) for 30 mins.

Then, the train must have been going slower than normal (with snow on the tracks) because it arrived TWO HOURS after the ETA. Luckily I didn't have another train to catch or anyone to meet or anything else to do...

I arrived in the Gare de l'Est (East Station) which I'd never been to before and was immediately struck by how dirty the underground métro looked and how freezing it was (it appears that none of the trains and stations are not heated, and there I was in Sydney complaining about our non-heated trains. At least it's not 2° in Sydney in winter). I eventually managed to find my line and my train. Once I got out of the station I felt like a little girl again. I had my small-medium backpack and my Zuca so it's not as if I had a whole lot of bags to carry but they were both rather heavy and... it was pouring rain... and.... what is that I see? White flakes? OMG it's snowing and raining AT THE SAME TIME. Never in my life had I seen snow and rain simultaneously. I had to juggle my backpack, my Zuca trolleycase and the umbrella. Oh, and I should mention it was windy as well so my umbrella was being blown left, right and centre, and as it was about completely dark it was very hard to read street signs. I had to find my street. I find rather 'lost' for a moment there yet I was so excited I still managed to take some photos (much to the amusement/amazement/horror? of passers-by).

Here's a handy tip when travelling: 

Every time you see a map somewhere on the street, take a photo of it. That way you can refer back to it later. It's so handy! I mean you probably already have a map on you but in case you don't... In every Paris métro there are maps for the nearby streets (ie a zoomed-in kind of map) to help you find where you're going. I take a photo of this so that when I'm on the street level I can actually look at it and refer back to it! And with my camera I can store literally thousands of maps (and timetables and whatnot) so I don't need to physically carry all these heavy pieces of paper and books and stuff.

Luckily it was not a long walk to the apartment... I was lucky enough to be lent an apartment for 2 nights. In Paris!! During Christmas!! I thought I was sharing it with someone else but she wasn't there so I had the whole place to myself! It was a 1 bedroom apartment and quite possibly the smallest apartment I had ever seen in my entire life. Not that I was complaining. I was just intrigued that so much could fit into such a tiny space! You could not fit more than 1 person in either the bathroom or kitchen they were that small. I would call the interior design "eclectic" with bits and pieces of different styles.

I was so exhausted I just went to Monoprix (a supermarket) nearby and bought something to eat and looked at and sorted through my photos. I was too tired to even cook anything (despite having a full kitchen complete with coffee maker machine, toaster and blender even!) so I just bought a baguette and some instant soup and some fruit. How sad is that?! I tend to splurge on certain things and then scrimp on others and this was a time for scrimping hahaha. Despite my tiredness I recall going to bed quite late. Can't remember what I did. I could not get the internet nor the tv to work... I slept on a pull-out sofa bed which was comfortable and zonked out.


23 December, 2010 (Thursday)

I had big plans! I had decided to fulfil my dreams and my obsession with macarons and go on a "macaron marathon" around Paris. As well as that I wanted to soak in the Christmassyness of it all...

First of all though, I needed a map of the city! I had planned to get one at the Gare de l'Est when I arrived but somehow I immediately ended up in the métro underground as soon as I got off my platform (perhaps I went the wrong way I don't know. My brain was frozen from that 1 hour wait in Karlsruhe). It would be easier for me to get it at Gare du Nord instead so that was my first stop.




The night before, I'd bought a carnet of 10 tickets from one of the ticket machines. 1 ticket costs 1,70€ and a carnet costs 12,00€ so obviously you save... 5 euros! Some random guy tried to sell me one of his tickets (that he'd obviously bought as part of a carnet) for the regular price. Pfft... Not all tourists are stupid, dumb ass! Besides, I wanted the carnet and not a single ticket.

Well it worked out perfectly because the first night I used 1 ticket, then the second day (this day) I used 5, and the 3rd day (24 Dec) I used 4.

I'd been in the Gare du Nord the first time I visited Paris and remembered it was huge (as are all of the Grandes Lignes (main lines) stations in Paris). I made my way from the métro to the main lines part ASAP to find a info counter to get a map. I got 2 in fact. One to use (and write/draw/highlight on/destroy) and one to keep as a souvenir in pristine condition) - there's another tip for ya! The guy didn't seem too helpful or friendly despite the fact I was speaking in French - Parisians pfft! ;)

After 3 months of eating nothing but French and Western cuisine with the occasional Kebab, I was DYING for some Asian food! I thought I'd go to Chinatown to get some Chinese or Vietnamese. The guy at the info counter told me to go to the Place d'Italie station. So that's what I did. I basically went back to the same platform and got back on the same train/line and headed down south.

However, somebody was out to foil my plans. Or... for once in my travelling life I hadn't pre-planned anything and I was kinda lost. I mean I found some restaurants but they were not open. WTF? During lunch time? Then, it was really really windy and snowing and raining too remember... It was kinda hard to be walking great distances outside and I was starving (after eating nothing but bits of leftover baguette from last night for breakfast). So I made my way to the closest place I could find. An El Cheapo place (Gourmet Tang's) that was packed with people. However, in this case, packed doesn't necessarily mean good. I mean it wasn't super bad but it wasn't great. But for the price 4,50€ I shouldn't complain. I ordered a bun which is my all-time fave Vietnamese dish made with vermicelli noodles and spring rolls, and a dollop of fish sauce and alfalfa sprouts. It was OK but I was not that pleased with my choice of eating establishment. But I got over it.




I was too fascinated by the snow. THE SNOW. It had snowed in my town just before I left but when I was in Germany (just before) there was none. All along I had wished that it would not snow in Paris before I got there, but after. Not before so it wouldn't foil my plans and after because I wanted a white Christmas! I was overjoyed because I got my wish pretty much. Although I arrived in Paris 2 hours later than planned it didn't really ruin my plans.

I could not believe it.

The whole time I was in Paris, I could not believe it. I seriously felt like the luckiest girl alive. I was in Paris. The city most people dream about going to. It was (almost) Christmas AND it was snowing. It's the kind of thing people wish to experience but almost never do because you cannot control Mother Nature. Apparently it doesn't even snow all that often in Paris.

Everyone seemed kinda stressed what with last minute gift buying and all. There were few people outside due to the extreme weather however I was loving it all. OK maybe not the wind and the rain, but I was just loving the snow and praying it would stick around (literally).

I had planned to go to at least one Christmas market (Marché de Noël) in Paris but I didn't realise that I'd find lots of them simply by doing what I was going to do anyway. I saw some markets right near the métro entrance, and then I saw a big shopping centre (centre commercial) and decided to go in (to warm up and to have a look around since I love to window shop). I wandered in and got lost for a while before deciding I better get on with my "macaron marathon".










I took the métro to Saint-Sulpice station, where, according to my map were 3 macaron places nearby. I had already researched on the internet and found the addresses of all the places I wanted to go to and purposely chosen those close to each other (to save time obviously).

Around there I'd find Pierre Hermé, and a bit further north, Ladurée (website plays music), and a bit further south-east, Dalloyau.

The macaron review is in another blog post so I'll just mention where I went without talking about the macarons themselves here.

Before I got started though, I first had a look at the

1. Christmas markets at Saint Sulpice








2. Pierre Hermé

The story is tiny! There was a queue outside but that didn't deter me. I queued up and it moved reasonably quickly. I don't know why they make it difficult to choose the flavours. It would be good if you could look at a board or something before it was your turn to be served to save time. Almost every flavour I wanted was sold out. There were people stocking up for Christmas I guess.




3. Jardin du Luxembourg

I like to try to see/do as much as I can without wasting time backtracking across Paris on the métro... I would be passing by the Jardin du Luxembourg and what perfect time to visit one of the most famous scenes in the learning-French video/book series, French in Action! As well as that, I'd pass by Rue de Vaugirard where the fictitious family of Mireille lived. Apparently their house number doesn't exist so I didn't waste time going in search of it, but I just looked at the road and then wandered into the park. I have heard everyone rave about this park. I never saw it during my last visit to Paris so I was keen to check it out.







Let me remind you it was not the kind of day where one says, "I know! Let's go to the park today." It was practically EMPTY. There were a few strollers (as in people strolling and not the things that babies sit in. The French word for this is flaneur, I believe.) and tourists around but not many. I asked a nice American family (from Los Angeles) to take a photo for me because I was so happy to be in this park and it was snowing furiously now (although the ground wasn't completely white everywhere yet, there were patches of concrete and grass seen still).




So with them gone, I was left alone and let me tell you it's quite difficult to take photos of yourself and then all you ever see is your big fat head and none of your body...

So there I was trying to take another photo of myself in a picturesque location (comme d'habitude/as usual) when I saw another young photographer alone. We both kind of eyed each other with an expression of curiosity like, "What are you doing here?!"




I asked if he could take a full length shot of/for me and he agreed. We got talking immediately and I even took out my SLR camera. Up until that point I had only been using my compact camera (yes I have two) because it's just so much easier to be able to slip it into my coat pocket. It's actually kind of hard to take photos with gloves on but then as soon as I took my gloves off my fingers would freeze...

So we walked, and talked, and took photos. I told him I wanted to see the pond thing (bassin) where Marie-Laure (the 10-year old sister of the protagonist, Mireille, from French in Action) played with the toy boats. It was so funny and weird to see snow everywhere and hardly anybody around when the FIA series was obviously shot during summer.




The guy told me he's a law student in London and he came to Paris to escape the bad weather there. We both had a good laugh about that considering the extreme weather we were experiencing at that time!

I told him I'm from Australia but currently living in France and teaching English. I told him I was on a "macaron marathon" and he kind of rolled his eyes at me saying he couldn't understand why girls were obsessed with these things. He told me he was staying with friends in a huge apartment in Montmartre (which he couldn't pronounce because of the 'r' which was kind of funny).

After each snapping a few photos near the bassin (pond) we headed towards my next macaron stop.




He wanted to use his iphone to help us get there. The strangest thing happens to me whenever I'm with other people. I seem to lose all sense of direction yet when I'm alone I can find any place I need to go easily with just a map (no fancy phone/gadget for me! I'm 'old school'). When I am with someone it's as if I can just 'let go' and relax and let them take care of it... so he laughed when I had no idea where I was now and which direction we should head in.

4. Dalloyau

The window displays were jaw-droppingly gorgeous. They even have a nice tea room upstairs which we wanted to go to, but unfortunately it was closed for a party or something. So I just bought 3 macarons and left.




5. Some restaurant/café I forgot the name of (I think it was Café le Rostand)

We then went to a nearby restaurant to get a drink (and to sit down and warm up) and chat. After that, I had to get to the third macaron place before dark and he had to meet some friends so we exchanged email addresses and then walked back to where I started from, Saint-Sulpice métro. Along the way the wind and rain were just going like crazy. Most people were walking very quickly to get out of the weather and get inside but we were both like crazy people taking photos and laughing the whole way. I was a little bit paranoid of the rain getting inside my camera (but it was fine) and the wind kept blowing my umbrella inside out. At the back of my head I felt kind of insane to be stopping every 5 seconds to take photos in that weather (and hoping I wouldn't get sick being in it) but I knew this kind of thing does not happen often. Like seriously, who gets an invitation to have an apartment in Paris all to themselves (for FREE) during the busiest time of year (Christmas), and have it be snowing? ME. I had to make the most of it. I'm sure most Parisians were whinging and complaining about the 'horrible' weather but I was LOVING it! :D








We passed by the Saint-Sulpice Christmas markets (my second time now since I'd already seen them after Pierre Hermé) and then bid farewell to each other and parted ways. I am sure he was dying to find somewhere warm and dry again to go to. Me on the otherhand was off to the mothership, Ladurée!


6. Saint Germain Christmas markets







Les Deux Magots (which also features in FIA)




Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow!

View all the pics on Facebook here

Paris Macaron Marathon = Macarathon

View Macaron Marathon Paris in a larger map


My Macarathon in Paris (les meilleurs macarons à Paris)

What is a macarathon I hear you ask? Well, it's my own made up word for a macaron marathon :)

Over the Christmas break I was in Paris for 3 days. During this time I wanted to sample the so called "best" macarons in Paris. Even though I love these things, I hadn't actually tried that many and have never been to Ladurée or Pierre Hermé in Paris.

The Story (L'histoire):
Why am I so obsessed with macarons? It all started in 2007 when I was living in Shanghai and frequenting Paul Bakery. I used to buy various breads and pastries and sw these beautiful wonderful creations (which I found out were called macarons) but I could never justify the price (now I don't care! :P ) so I left the city/country without ever trying a single one :( Then in Sydney they were always at the back of my mind and then whilst watching Masterchef (the only tv show I watched at the time) my interest for them was re-awakened and I tried to find them in Sydney only to realise there were very very few places that sold them! The first place I tried them was in Lindt Café and I remember thinking that they were too sickly sweet. However, in hindsight perhaps they're not but I do remember not liking them as much as the ones from Baroque. I have not tried Adriano Zumbo's though (who is probably the most famous macaron maker in Sydney) to compare.

Once in France I was over the moon when I realised they were literally everywhere (at almost any pâtisserie/boulangerie) and even in the supermarket (yes I tried those too... the shells were fine but the filling was not good) and cost 1/3 or 1/2 the price of the ones in Australia. I've tried a lot of other macarons in various places (and cities!) but this review is just about the main ones in Paris (plus one in Lyon).

Disclaimer (Démenti): I don't claim to be any sort of actual food critic or reviewer and there are probably tonnes of other blogs out there with better (or different) reviews and photos but these are just my personal experiences... :)

Prices (Les prix): I unfortunately didn't note down all the prices but they were usually sold by weight (around 70-80 euros per kilogram) and the cost ranged between 0,60 and 1,80 euros each from memory. However it's hard to use price to compare since the macarons are not all the same size!

Taste test (Test de goûts): For the taste testing I did not eat any of them straight away but a few days later to test how well they would keep. Most of them stood the test of time but the shells become hard and crunchy after a while (except the Pierre Hermé ones which seemed to become softer and more fragile!)


The review is organised like this (La revue s'organise comme ça):

• Name of Pâtisserie (La Pâtisserie)
• Address (L'Adresse)
• Service (Le Service)
• Packaging (L'Emballage)
• Prices (Les Prix)
• Flavours (Les Saveurs)
• Comments (Les Commentaires)
• Rating 1-4 macarons (Les Cotes 1-4 macarons)


Pierre Hermé

• Address: 
72, Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris
(other locations too)
• Service:
Polite and professional like in a hotel but I wouldn't say overly friendly
• Packaging:
Clear plastic bag with mini brochure inside and enclosed with a sticker
• Price:
Did not note but around 1,60-1,80 € ea from memory
Bigger/Puffier/more 3D than others (but also the most expensive I believe).
• Flavours: 
Rose (Rose et Pétale de Rose) (Rose and Rose petals)
Dépaysé (Thé Vert Matcha, Haricot Rouge Azuki, Citron Vert et Gingembre (Green Matcha Tea, Red Azuki beans, Green Lemon and Ginger)
Truffe Blanche et Noisette (Truffe Blanche et Éclats de Noisettes du Piémont Grillées) (White truffles and Hazelnut pieces - until 23 janvier)
Coing et Rose (Quince and Rose)
Mogador (Chocolat au Lait et Fruit de la Passion) (Milk Chocolate and Passionfruit)
Huile d'Olive et Mandarine (Olive Oil and Mandarin)
Marron et Thé Vert Matcha (Chestnut and Green Matcha Tea)
Infiniment Chocolat (Chocolat Pure Origine Venezuela Porcelana) (Pure Venezuelan Chocolate)
Métissé (Carotte, Orange et Cannelle) (Carrot, Orange and Cinnamon - from 24 January)
Menthe Fraîche (Fresh Mint - from 24 January)
Crème Brûlée (Vanilles et Éclats de Caramel) (Vanilla and Caramel pieces)
Chuao (Chocolat Pure Origine Chuao, Cassis et Baies de Cassis) (Pure Chuao Chocolate, Blackcurrant and Blackcurrant Berries)
Infiniment Caramel (Caramel au Beurre Saleé) (Caramel Salted Butter)
Arabella (Chocolate au Lait, Banane, Fruit de la Pssion et Gingembre Confit) (Milk Chocolate, Banana, Passionfruit and Ginger - from 22 November)

A lot of them were 'out of stock' when I arrived on the afternoon of 23 December so I only had about 5-6 flavours to choose from (a little annoying).

• Reviews:
• Crème Brûlée - Delicious. LOTS of creamy delicious filling with a tiny hint of coffee flavour? but shell is way too soft and fragile (crumbled easily)
• Infiniment Caramel - Caramel au Beurre Saleé (caramel) - LOTS of creamy filling, orgasmic. Can I say that? ;)
• Arabella - Chocolate au Lait, Banane, Fruit de la Pssion et Gingembre Confit - nice but not overly exciting. The aroma of the ginger was nice as was the taste of both the ginger and banana, and chocolate but could not taste any passionfruit at all. Aftertaste of ginger.

• Rating: 

Dalloyau

• Address: 
Place Edmond Rostand, 75006 Paris
(other locations too)
Shop has absolutely gorgeous displays 
• Service:
Average. You had to pay at a separate counter which I found annoying
• Packaging:
White paper bag with logo
• Price:
Approx 0,80€ ea (by weight they are 76€/kg) (they are much smaller than the others though)
• Flavours: 
Caramel au beurre salé (Salted Butter Caramel)
Pistache (Pistachio)
Marron/Cassis (Chestnut/Blackcurrant)
Framboise (Raspberry)
Confiture de Lait (la douceur du caramel de l'enfance) (Sweetened Condensed Milk)
Praline (Hazelnut praline)
Chocolat (Chocolate)
Café (Coffee)
Vanille (Vanilla)
+ more!

Reviews:
• Chestnut/Blackcurrant - filling is nice and jammy but there is not much of it
• Pistachio - only a hint of pistachio taste. otherwise too 'fake' tasting
• Sweetened Condensed Milk - nice but fairly ordinary. Had a subtle nice milky aroma/flavour.

Rating:

Ladurée

• Address: 
21, Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris
(other locations too)
There is also a tea salon (busy) decorated in a Chinese-style and gift shop selling kawaii (cute) Japanese-style gift. I bought an adorable macaron and Eiffel Tower keychain as my Christmas gift to me :)
• Service:
Professional and friendly
• Packaging:
Pale green paper bag imprinted with logo
• Price:
1,60€ ea (or 80€/kg)
• Flavours:
Epices et Fruits Moelleux (Spices and soft Fruits)
Fruits Rouges (Red Berries)
Chocolat - Pure Origine Madagascar (Pure Dark Madagascan Chocolate)
Pétale de Rose Gingembre (Rose Petal/Ginger)
Citron (Lemon)
Réglisse (Licore)
Fleur d'Oranger (Orange Blossom)
Café (Coffee)
Pomme Verte (Green Apple)
Chocolat (Chocolate)
Praliné Noisettes (Hazelnut Praline)
Cassis Violette (Blackcurrant/Violet)
Vanille (Vanilla)
Marron (Chestnut)
Orange et Passion (Orange and Passionfruit)
Caramel à la fleur de sel (Salted Caramel)
Pistache (Pistachio)
Framboise (Raspberry)

Reviews:
•  Salted Caramel - amazing. Hard to decide between this one and PH's one.
•  Vanilla - didn't like it. Tasted kind of artificial.
•  Rose Petal/Ginger - love it! First tried it in Ladurée Lausanne. The fragrance of the rose combined with the gingerbready taste is just fabulous.

Rating: 

Lenôtre

• Address: 
36, Avenue de la Motte-Picquet, Paris
(other locations too)
• Packaging:
White paper bag with dark purple circumflex logo
• Price:
(Didn't note)
• Service:
Average
Did not allow me to take photos in their store! Because they annoyed me I only bought 2 instead of the 3-4 I normally buy.
• Flavours: 
Café (Coffee)
Vanille (Vanilla)
Chocolat (Chocolate)
Pistache (Pistachio)
Caramel (Caramel)
Framboise (Raspberry)
Pruneau/kumquat (Prune/Kumquat)
Abricot/Pistache (Apricot/Pistachio)
Figue/Noix (Fig/Nut)
+ more!

Reviews:
Shells are very firm/tough and not brittle like some of the others.
• Pistachio - nice aroma and flavour, but not enough filling, not satisfying enough.
• Caramel - nice creamy filling but not enough of it.


Rating: 

Les Caneles Lemoine
NB: This is not a popular place for macarons but I passed the gorgeous looking shop and couldn't resist going inside for a sneak peek (and taste)!

• Address: 
74, Rue Saint Dominique, 75007 Paris
• Packaging:
Clear plastic bag with black "L" cursive script sticker
• Price:
(Didn't note)
• Service:
Polite, helpful and as friendly as you can get for Paris ;)
• Flavours: 
Café (Coffee)
Vanille (Vanilla)
Chocolat (Chocolate)
Chocolat amer (Bitter Chocolate)
Citron (Lemon)
Menthe Chocolate (Choc Mint)
Coco (Coconut)
Gingembre (Ginger)
Cassis (Blackcurrant)
Framboise (Raspberry)
Rose (Rose)
Passion (Passionfruit)
Cassis (Blackcurrant)
Violette (Violet)
Pistache (Pistachio)
Abricot (Apricot)
Praliné (Praline)
Caramel  (Caramel)
Caramel à la fleur de sel (Salted Caramel)
Foie Gras/Figues (Foie Gras/Fig)
Foie Gras/Chocolat (Foie Gras/Chocolate)
Marron Glace (Chestnut Icecream)
Nutella (Nutella)

Reviews:
• Violet - nice
• Salted Caramel - nice - creamy filling, not very thick like Pierre Hermé though
• Choc mint - nice, reminds me of choc mint ice cream
• Foie gras/Fig - tasted mushroomy. Too 'exotic' and 'weird' a taste for me to be in a macaron!

Rating:

Gérard Mulot

• Address: 
 93, Rue Glacière 75013 Paris
(another one at 76, Rue de Seine 75006 Paris)
Shop has absolutely gorgeous displays
• Service:
Professional and polite like you'd get in a hotel
• Packaging:
Paper bag imprinted with logo
• Price:
(Didn't note)
• Flavours: 
October-March: Réglisse/Fruits rouges (Licorice/Red Berries)
Cassis/Violette (Blackcurrant/Violet)
Orange/Cannelle (Orange/Cinnamon)
Noisette (Hazelnut)
Marron (Chestnut)
March-October: Ananas/Gingembre (Pineapple/Ginger)
Mûre (Blackberry)
Feuille de menthe (Mint Leaf)
Cerise griotte (Morello Cherry)
Fraise/Coquelicot (Strawberry/Poppy)
All year round: Passion/Basilic (Passionfruit/Basil)
Amande (Almond)
Framboise (Raspberry)
Citron (Lemon)
Pistache (Pistachio)
Café (Coffee)
Nougat (Nougat)
Chocolat (Chocolate)
Caramel au beurre salé (Salted Butter Caramel)
Noix de coco (Coconut)

Reviews:
His just look amazing! Everything in the shop looks amazing in fact. They are round and puffy and very solid. Nicest shape/size.
• Passionfruit/Basil (yellow with dark brown specks and yellow filling)- freaking amazing, jam/gel type filling. Very tasty.
• Orange/Cinnamon (with brown specks and yellow filling) - tastes like custard, lots of crreamy filling. not too sweet.
• Almond (cream with brown specks and cream filling) - tasted like vanilla. OK, pretty average tasting.
• Combaves? (green shell with pistachio bits on it) - nice shell but filling tasted artificial.

Rating:

Paul

Address: 
(various all over the country)
Service:
Friendly
Packaging:
Brown paper bag imprinted with logo
Price:
0,60€ ea
Flavours: 
Caramel (Caramel)
Chocolat (Chocolate)
Coco (Coconut)
Pistache (Pistachio)
Framboise (Raspberry)
Figue (Fig)
Mangue (Mango)
Citron (Lemon)
Citron vert (Green Lemon)
Lychee (Lychee)
Mandarine (Mandarin)
Banane (Banana)
Vanille (Vanilla)
Praliné (Praline)
Café (Coffee)
Rose (Rose)

Reviews:
• Pistachio (green) - lots of filling, strong flavoured.
• Rose (pink) with something else - nice combination. perfect flavour.
• Lemon (yellow) - centre kind of chewy. Nice flavour, not too sweet, nice aroma.

Rating: 

To review next time I'm in Paris:

• Aoki Sadaharu
• Fauchon
• Jean-Paul Hevin




Honorable mention:
Although not in Paris, these macarons absolutely blew me away with their fruit flavoured filling. I have not tasted macarons like these anywhere in Paris. They are from Sève Maître Chocolatier et Pâtissier in Lyon. They are just impeccable! Their appearance, colour, aroma and flavour. Maybe even better than the king and queen of macarons (IMHO), Pierre Hermé and Ladurée. Bonus points for innovative packaging.

• Address:
Lyon Centre – Presqu’île
29 Quai Saint Antoine 69002 Lyon
(Other locations in Lyon too)
• Service:
Professional
Packaging: 
Glossy full colour cardboard tetrapak shaped bag
• Price:
(can't remember but around 1,50 or 1,60 ea I think)

• Check out the great flavours:
Caramel au Beurre salé (Caramel Salted Butter)
Cassis - Violette (Blackcurrant/Violet)
Chocolat (Chocolate)
Chocolat - Figue (Chocolate/Fig)
Citron (Lemon)
Fraise Gariguette (Gariguette Strawberry)
Framboise (Raspberry)
Malaga (rhum-raisin) (Rum and Raisin)
Marron glacé (Frozen Chestnut)
Moka (café) (Coffee)
Pêche (Peach)
Pétale de rose (Rose Petal)
Pistache (Pistachio)
Pomme Tatin (Apple Tatin)
Praliné noisette (Hazelnut Praline)
Réglisse (Licorice)
Sève Cola (Cola)
Vanille (Vanilla)
Verveine (Verbena)

Rating: 

Final Comments (and complaints):


Winner:
I'd have to say that Pierre Hermé's were truly the best and Ladurée's second. Both their salted caramel ones were awesome. I just wish PH's shells were not so soft and fragile, then they'd be a clear winner.

Packaging:
The thing that annoys me the most is that they don't provide boxes unless you spend like $15 or $20 which means by the time you get them home they are squashed (and my photos of them are crap). I mean even a cheap crappy white cardboard box or clear plastic thing (that pastries come in in the supermarkets) will do, it doesn't have to be fancy.

Menu:
In the places that tend to be crowded I wish they'd have the board of flavours to choose from for you to see while you are waiting. Pierre Hermé was probably the worst. The shop is so small and the queue was longish and when it was my turn to be served I couldn't really see them properly to choose. Plus to save time I could've have looked at it before whilst waiting in the queue (if they had a 'menu' closer to the front door). In Ladurée they had a board with the flavours but I had to actually pick it up and move it closer to me to look at it.

Prices:
Regarding the price, I wished they'd just have a set price. Doing it by weight seems too fiddly to me (and also wastes time). Sure they are all slightly different sizes but who cares?! Just make a price for each and stick to it. I don't really use price to judge though.

Photos:
I'm always nervous about taking photos, just waiting for the moment that I'll get told off. I did eventually get told off in Ladurée but if it wasn't so busy/crowded I'm sure they would've told me to stop much earlier. I find this annoying because I just want to share the photos with my friends and family (and my blog readers). What's the harm in that? They get free advertising so it kind of gives me a bad impression of a place when they don't allow photos. Dalloyau also told me to stop taking photos after a while and Lenôtre stopped me altogether. Don't they realise that people can still take photos of their window displays? What are they going to do? Hire someone to stand there 24/7 to stop them taking photos? Ridiculous!!

Taste:
I prefer the ones that taste as natural as possible. I dislike the ones that taste artificial and are too sickly sweet. I like the fancy gold dust or sprinkles of pieces on the top as decoration as it looks pretty as well as adding texture :) It really depends on which flavour you choose as some are good and some are not so good (from the same store).

Appearance/Size:
Since I've tried making macarons a few times (and never truly succeeded) and read some macaron cookbooks (in both French and English) I know what they are supposed to look like. They are supposed to be flattish but with a slightly rounded look and rounded edges and with the frilly 'feet' (pieds-which should not protrude out too much). There should not be a 'nipple' in the centre of the exterior of the macaron shell. This is caused by the mixture not 'settling' before it hardens (it is probably too thick and not watery enough or the pastry chef did not tap the tray hard against the benchtop to settle it). The filling should be just visible (I don't like the appearance of the ones without the filling visible enough). Each macaron should be roughly the same size/shape as all the others. There should not be a variation in size. There does not seem to be a standard size as Pierre Hermé's and Gérard Mulot's were very chunky and Dalloyau's were tiny and the rest were in between. All the ones I tried were fairly uniform in appearance. Some things to keep in mind if you are wanting to try them. Winner would have to be Gérard Mulot's. I just wanted to buy them all when I saw them!

Locations:
If you're short of time you can try a bunch of them in the food hall of Galeries Lafayette in Paris. I kind of wished I knew this sooner as I wasted so much time criss-crossing Paris on the métro to get to them all... I also wish I knew that there was a Gérard Mulot in the 6th arrondissement instead of me going all the way to the 13th!

PS - talk about a marathon. Typing up this post (and finding and collating all the information, editing the photos, watermarking them, creating the custom Google map and embedding it, uploading the photos to Facebook, etc etc) was a marathon ;) but it was worth it so  Enjoy! :D


Facebook album of photos