17. Wine, cakes, macarons, bread …..

I wonder if you'd like to see a few snaps of the local food shops.  Trouble is, I get so involved in what I'm looking at that I forget to get the camera out.  But here's a few of the times I remembered.

The wine "room" at the rear of our tiny little supermarche Monoprix, in rue Montergeuil.

 Paul buying cheese and terrines on rue de Louvre.

One of the five local pattisieres showing off the best of the new season's strawberries and raspberries.

They make both small and large versions of each cake.  I can vouch for the small version of the strawberries and cream number shown here on the right.  Baked fresh (that means today, not yesterday) and about $32.00AUD for the large and about $4.50AUD for a small.

Paul coming out of the fruit shop with strawberries, huge but sweet and delicious.  Also in season is fresh asparagus, green and white.  The white is too expensive for us but the green is crisp and tasty and about $5.00 for a big, chunky bunch.

Paul's staples - bread, cake, wine and grapefruit juice.

A real find in the supermarche is this Saint-Emilion from Bordeaux for only $12.95AUD.

I can't remember what the tart on the left is called but on the right, with coffee flavoured choux pastry is a' Le Religieux', because it looks like a fat abbot. 

Macarons.

More macaroons.

Both delicious, but I can't remember the names.

A chocolatier joining the two halves of chocolate hearts together.

Glacé fruit, marzipan shaped into fruit plus lots of other things, including caramels.

Bonbonerie for weddings and christenings - sugar coated almonds and larger, flatter coated shapes.

New season's peaches and nectarines with a great range of fresh herbs underneath.

The other half of the stall.  Cherries, berries of all types, melons and pumpkins with even more fresh herbs underneath.  There is a fruit stall like this on every block.

Tourists only here. These lolly shops are franchised.

Another cake shop, this one is about 2 km away.  It has a different range then our local - but it's too far to carry them home, alas.

And here is Paul at our 'local'.  Cake shop, that is.  Boulangerie Maison Collett.

Is it any wonder we have both put on weight already - too much delicious cake and bread and beer and wine - and none of Mandy's gruelling exercise and weights classes every Tuesday and Thursday.