Pierre Herme, St Germain des Pres - Paris

Herme is dubbed the Picasso of pastry and I can see why. The shop we visited was tantamount to a museum of edible treats. He’s famous for his macaroons so that was a must. We tried the chocolate, caramel and almond (each 2 euros). The build up to trying these circles of joy was immense, so as I stood outside his shop and took my first bite I was both excited and scared it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. Unfortunately my fear was realised. Don’t get me wrong here, there was nothing wrong per say, but it was just too rich, too sweet and not the texture I had come to know and love from the ones I’d previously had.

The shop in itself was a little ludicrous. It reminded me of a very high end jewellery shop, which didn’t put it our of place on a street with shops like Max Mara and Didier Guerin. If you walked past it you’d be none the wiser to the fact it wasn’t a place to buy diamonds. It felt odd having 5 servers in a shop that was no bigger than a walk in wardrobe, and equally odd that the chocolates and cakes were securely locked in glass cabinets.

I wanted to show my husband a genuine French patisserie and unfortunately this wasn’t one. Twas a bit too la-di-da.

Pierre Hermes
5/10
72 Rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 43 54 47 77

www.pierreherme.com