Pierre Herme

 One of the particularly amazing thing in Paris is all the little deserts, of which, I don't think any are more infamous than the macaroon. As I have an absolutely undeniable sweet tooth, I have been doing my best to help bring peace (at least personal) to Paris' macaron war that is raging. So after a few hardened and flavorless little macaroons (I would recommend Eric Kayser heartily for a perfect baguette but pass on their macarons), I did some research and ended up at Pierre Herme.  

Laduree, established in 1862 and extremely venerable in its old age (with brilliant marketing and aesthetics), is regarded by many as the best macarons one can buy. Pierre Herme used to work at Laduree for fifteen years until he found its deep-rooted traditions too restraining. So he opened his own namesake patisserre.  

And it is amazing, it feels very chic the moment you approach the store and as soon as you enter, you feel as if you may be on Gossip Girl. The employees were very kind and enjoyed my obvious excitement as a scanned the chocolates, pastries and of course, macarons. 

Rows and rows of perfect, tender little macarons. Looking at them, I felt quite like the Walrus overlooking the oysters before consuming them in the Alice and Wonderland poem.

 As they are the creme-de-la-creme and quite expensive, I decided to choose four (so difficult) - blackberry, salted butter caramel, praline and white truffle (to be an experimental foodie and all). And was very happy about it. 

I couldn't wait to rush home to try them.

 And oh my gosh! A more delectable little treat I have never encountered! Fluffy and light, tender and just a bit chewy, these were perfection! They made the other macarons I had tried taste the cardboard, truly. The blackberry was my absolute favorite - I audibly gasped with joy when I bit into it. The salted butter caramel was perfection, the praline was delicious. The white truffle tasted like.. white truffle, exactly like it was supposed to but I think I prefer that flavor with cream over foie gras tortellini like a had a Cafe Boheme. But overall, I am in love. I want to eat these everyday. I cannot wait to return!