Le Petit Gouter

In celebration of my 16th birthday, my family and I spent a weekend in Paris. We toured the breathtaking city of lights, visiting museums and monuments galore. But by far the most memorable aspect of Paris was the food, specifically the pastry. Host to countless patisseries and chocolatiers, Paris offers a wide array of meticulously-crafted pastries and desserts. I visited some of the city's most acclaimed pastry shops, sampling numerous sweet treats.

The Parisians are known for their impeccable attention to detail, especially in the culinary arts. Each individual pastry is assembled to perfection; a dessert-lover's fantasy.

La Patisserie des Reves, the most innovative of all the boutiques I encountered, offers original creations unavailable at mainstream pastry shops. Individual glass domes encapsulate each pastry, allowing the viewer to closely admire the pastry as one would view a masterpiece in a gallery. Their most well-known piece (pictured above), the paris-brest, combines eight airy hazelnut cream puffs into a single seamless wreath. My family and I picked up the paris-brest and walked to a nearby park to enjoy the dainty dessert. Each one of us tore off a bite-sized puff and popped it into our mouthes, relishing the delicious moment.

French chocolates exceeded my expectations. The Patrick Roger Chocolatier presents the finest, most diverse variety of homemade chocolates available in Paris. From rich truffles dusted in chalky cocoa powder to rustic dried fruit and nut clusters dunked in creamy milk chocolate, Patrick Roger crafts all its specialty chocolates on a daily basis to ensure only the highest-quality products for its customers.