What happens in Paris, stays in Paris – Part One

Pistachio, vanilla, caramel with sea salt and dark chocolate macarons from Laduree

Okay, I know, this is not health food by any stretch of the imagination. Macarons are a sugary delicacy made from egg whites and ground almonds and are found even in McDonald’s in Paris!

During my travels, I try to stick to wise choices when it comes to food, but I make a few exceptions to my usual fare in order to sample local specialties. The 80/20 rule comes to mind – Pareto’s principle states that if you choose wisely 80% of the time, you are on the right track. I would like to keep that percentage a bit higher, since I know dietary choices have a profound impact on how I look and feel, but when in Paris (a rare opportunity) I decided to sample a couple of usually verboten foods, such as macarons.

Believe it or not, this is a Paris McDonald’s!

McDonald’s Pastry Showcase

Do parisians really eat this stuff on a daily basis? I did not see ANY grossly overweight people here – maybe it is all the walking everyone does to get around. I believe we did a couple of marathons during our stay in Paris. However, the other customers in the Laduree shop (on Rue Bonaporte on the Left Bank) did not seem to be French, just saying!

These tiny little confections cost the earth, so we just bought a few to sample. I decided to go to the very best place for Macarons, which is universally acknowledged to be Laduree, rather than economizing with the (likely chemical-infused) McMacaron.

Macarons are usually gluten-free (but chock-full of sugar) so are a little better than some other indulgences. We had them after dinner with a cup of fruit tea. I really liked the vanilla flavour, but they were all way too sweet for more than a bite or two.

As we were wandering around, we came upon Pierre Herme, a rival macaron shop which some people prefer to Laduree due to the innovative flavours produced there. We just took a look, but as you can see it has a completely different vibe which is more colourful and modern.