PAUL Christmas Logs

PAUL bakery is one of my favorite things about France. Surprisingly, it was not as the French say, un coup de foudre. I fell in love - madly, deeply in love - with each loaf of bread, tart, pain au chocolat...and of course, the macaroons (1). To imagine that I looked upon PAUL's pistachio macaroon with suspicion!

Above, the line spilling out of a PAUL bakery in Cannes. Whenever I could, I bought the family bread from PAUL.

Since, I take every occasion to eat at PAUL, especially since there is no PAUL in New York.
Every time I am in France, of course - Aix, Paris, Cannes, Nîmes, including Orly airport, once, while making a connection for Italy - and twice in Miami (once walking up Lincoln Road, and then once on the way back down Lincoln!)

I was pleased to discover, then, that Guadeloupe has its very own PAUL. Two, in fact. One at Bas-du-Fort, and the other in the commercial zone of Jarry. Unfortunately, both are too far to make our local boulangerie (though, the boulangerie where we buy our bread in Trois-Rivières sells an excellent baguette, supposedly one of the best in Guadeloupe). We make special trips to the PAUL in Jarry when we want to buy something for a special occasion.

I am looking forward to stopping by next week to pick up a Christmas log. Hardly sounds appetizing in English, but I assure you, these logs are more than edible:

Above, from left to right: la Tout Choco, la Framboise Nougat, la Fondante, le Chalet
(pictured at the top of this post, la Pain d'Épices; not pictured from the selection, la Mokatine)
Click on the image for a larger image.

I haven't quite decided which one I want. And, for almost €20, its too expensive to have one of each. Whichever one I choose, though, I am certain it will be delicious. Not quite Christmas in New York, but a nice consolation prize.

(1) What's a macaroon?: "One of PAUL’s best-loved treats, these heavenly macaroons are very special. Our soft Valencia almond biscuits are sandwiched with smooth butter cream filling and come in five mouth-watering versions: Chocolate, Coffee, Praline, Vanilla and Pistachio."