Paris: Macaron Tasting

I’ve said it before I’m not a big fan of French macarons but since I was in Paris I decided try the macarons from the most popular stores – Laduree, Pierre Hermé and Jean-Paul Hevin.  You can’t ignore macarons in Paris they are everywhere from small neighborhood patisseries to supermarkets even McDonalds’ McCafe sell their own version.

Right after our lunch at La Maison de la Truffe Rochelle and I walked to the nearby BD Haussmann a lovely street filled with lots of stores and home to two giant department stores, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.

How can we not go shopping when the word SOLDES or sale screamed at us from all the stores. You see the shops in France have major sales twice a year, in January and July. We arrived in Paris on July 1 just when all the sales started.

I had a long list of patisseries, chocolatiers and bread stores on my list to try in Paris. I was so happy that between Printemps and Galeries Lafayette more than half of my list was covered.

Our first stop was the gourmet level of Printemps on the 2nd floor and there were so many goodies there but we went straight to Laduree.

Laduree is probably the most famous sellers of macarons with branches all over the world. A branch in Hong Kong is opening in December at Harbour City. I can’t wait to try their other pastries.

Laduree’s mini macarons flavors 

Laduree’s individual macarons flavors 

They also had giant macarons if those small ones aren’t enough.

individual macarons €4.40 each

pastries

They also had a bigger outlet in Printempts where you can sit and have coffee with your sweets. There’s another take out store at the ground floor too.

I now understand why Laduree is considered the best macaron. The outer shell was perfect. It had a crunch at first bite then a denser chewier interior. The filling had the right amount of sweetness and a strong bright flavor.

Laduree lime & basil macaron €1.70 each

This is what our macarons looked like after getting squished in my bag. Nevertheless it was still delicious.

Laduree macarons – pistachio, lemon, violet guimave, soft caramel with sea salt macarons

Our next stop was Galeries Lafayette where Pierre Hermé was located.

They had more exotic flavors of macarons than Laduree. Click here (pdf file) to see all their flavors.

Pierre Hermé’s macarons had a much softer outer shell that I didn’t like as much but their filling was really intense and out of this world good. You could taste the nuances of each flavor and some had bits of soft litchi (lychee) and cherries. It tasted like a 3D macaron. For me the perfect macaron would be Laduree’s almond meringue shell with Pierre Hermé’s filling.

Pierre Hermé macaron €1.60 each
pistachio, ceylon cinnamon & morello cherries
salted butter caramel
olive oil with mandarin orange
rose, litchi & raspberry

Jean-Paul Hevin is a brand I’m more familiar with since they have branches in Hong Kong but I’ve never tried their macarons. I visited their branch in the basement level of Galeries Lafayette.

I wasn’t really planning to buy more macarons but I was attracted to these two flavors. Both which weren’t available with other brands.

fig €1.60 each

chocolate orange ginger

Their macaron was way too soft without any crunch nor was it chewy. The filling was too sweet too. These were the macarons I least enjoyed despite the good flavors I chose.

Laduree
Printemps de la Maison Haussmann
64, boulevard Haussmann – 75009 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 42 82 40 10
website

Pierre Hermé
Galeries Lafayette Maison
Ground floor
35 boulevard Haussmann 75009 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 43 54 47 77
website
Galeries Lafayette welcomes Macarons & Chocolats Pierre Hermé Paris : on the first floor, in the “Espace Créateurs”, and on the lower level, in the “Espace Chaussures et Souliers”.

Jean-Paul Hevin
Galeries Lafayette Gourmet
48 Bd Haussmann 75009 Paris
website