God did I struggle to find a good, genuine Parisian cafe to show my husband what it’s all about (he doesn’t get the big deal about Paris café culture so I was eager to show him). We went to several, none of which were good enough. I wasn’t looking for a bar or a place to get frites. All I wanted was a patisserie serving great cakes and equally good savoury things. After talking to a friend’s mum, a local, we finally got close with Au Petit Versailles.
My husband Eddy has a mighty sweet tooth so his pupils dilated at the sight of the cakes on offer. I on the other hand am more savoury, so I was hit with elation at the sight of the wonderful sandwiches, generously filled quiches etc… I finally decided to be Croqued.
Over indulgence ensued with Eddy getting 2 cakes: a Millefeuille filled with custard and a Chocolate Éclair. Unbeknown to us both, in France éclairs aren’t filled with cream, but a custard known as crème patissière. When you come to know something and love it, even it’s not technically the ‘right’ way then eating it differently can be a let down. So as much as it was good it wasn’t the cream filled éclair he was accustomed to. He thought the Millefeuille was a tad dry too. We’re nitpicking here. It had faults but overall was good.
My Croque Monsieur was delicious. Oozy from the cheese, creamy from the béchamel and salty from the ham. A few sprinkles of black pepper and I was happy as Larry.
On our way out I bought 4 more cakes to take back to London on the Eurostar we were catching later that day. They came to €18. All were good, only 3 made it back though, as cake number 4 called to us while we waited at Paddington Station.
Sitting outside a boulangerie eating cakes and a croque monsieur in a nice part of Paris was what I wanted to show him and I think I delivered.
Au Petit Versailles du Marais
9/10
Rue Tiron
75004, Paris France
Tel: +33 9 71 47 61 89
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