La parisienne — Specialty Store in Grands Boulevards, Paris

La parisienne is a small bakery on Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière in Grands Boulevards, the kind of counter you find in a residential stretch rather than on a tourist drag. You walk in and the bread sits out front, with pastries and cakes filling the rest of the display and a savoury menu running alongside.

Start with the Baguette La Tradition, the loaf that won first prize in Paris in 2025: a crackly crust and a crumb that holds up. The croissants are flaky and properly baked, and the ham and cheese baguette makes a solid lunch when you want something savoury. For sweet, the raspberry tartlet and the macarons with raspberries are the ones to point at, and the apple tart is delicate and balanced. The vanilla cream puff and the chocolate fondant round out the dessert case; the fondant is rich, and priced accordingly.

Inside there is little room. A couple of stools against the wall are the only place to sit, and most of the trade is takeaway. The shop opens at 7 am, earlier than the breakfast cafés around it, so an early croissant and coffee before a day of walking is easy to arrange. On Sundays it closes at 2:30 pm, so plan that morning accordingly.

Spend is modest if you keep to bread and a pastry, and climbs once you add tarts and desserts. Cards and cash both work. The chocolate fondant runs over €2 a slice, and a matcha latte has been priced at €6.

Go for the baguette and the croissants, treat the counter as a quick stop, and the shop does what you came for.