Kirs and Co.

When you are in France, and it is that time of day for a drink before dinner, the drink that you have is a Kir. Kirs are previously covered here. You can have a Kir Royale, too, with champange- but somehow those never seemed to stick around long enough for picture taking. This was my first Kir, pictured above, and the delcious salty meat that was brought out along with it. Not peanuts, not spicy crackers- slices of delicious sausagy meat.

Sometimes you don't get a snack with your late afternoon kir, so you have to provide for yourself. In my case, this one was accompanied by éclairs from Stohlers. Long, thin, and filled with chocolate cream- it was delicious, but also the only éclair I managed to wolf down on the trip (too busy eating marshmallows and chocolates and tiny creme brules and crepes). Yum.

Best Parisian Eclairs! (?)

So, I will be in Paris in only 23 short days. I'm excited, are you? When I met Gale Gand (2001 James Beard award winning pastry chef) at the Green City Market, I asked her what Patisseries I should make sure not to miss when I was in Paris. She recommended the usual "Lauduree" for macarons, which I had already mapped out in my travel guide, along with Pierre Herme. But for éclairs, she told me I couldn't miss Stohrer.

I will be finding out for myself by eating all the éclairs in Paris.