Paris Day: 4 Goumanyat

There are no words to describe the amazing croissants available at Max Poilane Bakery. Once we went in we really never truly came out. Max Poilane was one of our most favorite bakeries in Paris stocking everything from baguettes to meringue cookies.  If you don't believe me, then check out the mouth watering picture of the buttery croissant we ate nearly every morning.

Located in the 10th, Max Poilane even makes its own ice cream which we did not try because we were too busy indulging in the dry goods.

Now that is what traditional homemade bread should look like. I seriously wanted to try one of everything in the store.

For those of you wondering, yes that is a baked pear inside of a buttery bread roll, and yes it was amazing. Imagine a portable pear pie that wasn't messy and required no utensils to enjoy. We had no idea there was a pear on the inside until we took off the top of the bread. Once I sunk my teeth in this I was ruined for life. Never again will I find another amazing treat like this here in the states. If you know of a place please let me know right away.

Here we are enjoying a nice baguette as we walk to the metro.

We took the Metro to Goumanyat a shop that specializes in the very unique and hard to come by spices. The real star of the show was the saffron that was found in nearly everything in the shop. As we spoke to the guy working in the shop he showed us a very large jar filled with saffron. For those of you who are not familiar with the spice it is one of the most expensive spices in the world. Saffron comes from the crocus flower and is hand picked in a lot of Middle Eastern countries. We use saffron in a lot of dishes such as rice and chicken. We picked up some saffron honey and saffron caramels while at Goumanyat.

The inside of the store is filled with almost any spice you can imagine. We picked up a few spices that aren't found in the United States and one in particular that has been outlawed in U.S. restaurants. While in Paris I would highly recommend stopping by Goumanyat and asking for unique spice to bring back and a dish to make it with. We got an interesting idea from the worker at the shop for some mashed potatoes. I will let you know how they turn out.

As you can see there is even culinary Lavender and Hibiscus Flowers. Feel free to be nosy in the little boxes and containers you see around the shop. The worker was extremely polite and had spoke great English. Upstairs is filled with kitchen supplies and the basement has wine. One recommendation is to bring back some good french salt. We picked up some pink french salt with violet and rose petals in a grinder. We plan on making salted caramels with ours. A must visit for unique treats to bring back from Paris. WARNING: this place may cause addictive personalities to come out and you may regret not bringing back more when you get home.

After we spent a good portion of the day at Goumanyat we decided to go check out the Eiffel Tower again before we went back to the hotel. On the way there we passed quite a few pastry shops that caught our eye. I figured I would tease you all some more with these amazing desserts.

Now back at the Eiffel Tower here is a few more pictures we took.

 Hope you enjoyed today's trip. Tomorrow is The Louve!