No rendezvous on the Champs-Elysées is complete without a stop at my favourite "fabricant de douceurs & gourmandies": Ladurée, in all its gilded grandeur.
In the early 1900s, Pierre Desfontaines, cousin of Ladurée's founder, Louis Ernest Ladurée, took two almond meringue cookies and joined them with a divine ganache filling - creating the macaron as we know it. Prior to that, macarons were simply cookies, first brought to France in 1533.
These little round cakes, which made their onscreen debut in the film, Marie Antoinette, are crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, and are made each morning by Ladurée's pastry chefs who measure precisely the required amounts of almonds, eggs and sugar... and a touch of magic.
Ladurée began as a tea room near the Place de la Concorde in 1862 has expanded within Paris, then globally to England, Monaco, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, the Arab Emirates, and its most recent location, in New York's Upper East Side.
The NYC shop, located just down the street from Dior & Chloe, is a jewel box of pastel green, displaying Ladurée's traditional decorative accents; busts, mirrors, classical paintings, showcasing chocolates, crystallised flower petals and of course - macarons, all imported from Paris each day.
The manager of the NYC boutique, Elisabeth, began her career working in the fashion industry for the likes of Hermes, recently moved to New York to run the new store.
Elisabeth has said that, "The macaron is a grand classique of the pasty arts - its not an accessory. Its an experience of pleasure." I, for one, wholeheartedly agree!
01 | Fleur D'Oranger -- I love this as it reminds me of Morocco.
02 | Petale de Rose -- This is one of my favourites because it is a traditional flavour for candles, cakes and tea. Also, its special because of its associations with Marie Antoinette!
03 | Cassis Violette -- This macaron is so delicate! When you first bite into it you feel the blackcurrant followed by the delicate flavour of the violette.
04 | Caramel à la fleur de sel -- This one is simply bloody lovely!
05 | Chocolat -- Such a classical flavour for a macaron, perfection!
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