Remember when I lamented the desolation of the city in August, particularly my favorite neighborhood bakeries? Well, I can happily announce that all is now right with the world. Each of my favorite local bakeries have now reopened, giving me something to look forward to on my way home from work. Will they have a warm, whole grain baguette waiting for me, I wonder? Tonight they did and I went so far as do something ultra American with the baker – I asked her how her vacation was and saw her light up with surprise and a giant smile. “Super!”, she exclaimed. The sheer excitement I felt knowing that I was going to walk away with 1.30€ worth of pure foodie joy was enough for me to risk disrupting the accepted distance between baker and client. I say, it was a success.

Most people I see coming out of the bakery are carrying and/or ferociously biting into a baguette tradition – an almost painfully crunchy white flour baguette with a delectably soft, cushy interior. It is by far the most revered baguette yet I much prefer the whole grain version which called the Campagrain. Not to be confused with the white flour version sprinkled with grains as an afterthought, this is the real deal. 

 

Whole wheat flour, multi-grain, and almost always soft and fluffy. Mr. Cheeseland and I have been known to pile away an entire baguette in one sitting which, when paired with a 30 month old wedge of Comté (best if purchased from the cheese shop on rue Montorgueil), goes down like a glass of fine wine. It’s even ideal for the proverbial peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches I frequently make for lunch (my sincerest apologies for any French readers I just offended). All that to say, this fiber-filled bundle of carbohydrates is one of the many reasons I don’t know that I could ever leave live anywhere else.  

Vive la rentrée, the bakeries are back in action!