29 September 2011

Seen in a pâtisserie in Sées

When we stopped in Sées that afternoon back in August, one of the places we noticed was a boulangerie-pâtisserie across the street from the cathedral. I forget what it is we wanted to buy, but it might have been a couple of almond croissants.

Almond croissants

We found them too. And we had them for breakfast the next morning, I believe. I took a picture of them inside the shop. The young woman behind the counter didn't seem to mind my taking photos. She was, however, a little overwhelmed by the four of us oohing and aahing and otherwise talking about all the good pastries she had for sale.

The bakery and close-ups of its signs

Almond croissants are on my mind and on the menu this morning. I'm making some. Our friend Cheryl arrived yesterday afternoon, and croissants aux amandes are our first breakfast. Last night we grilled a big duck breast and made some pommes frites for dinner. The weather is so fine that we sat out on the front terrace until about 11 p.m.

Tartelettes

This morning's weather report said our high temperature this afternoon might be as high as 30ºC (86ºF). And to think that October arrives in a day or two. It's a treat to have so much sunshine and to be weather shorts and tee-shirts again, so late in the season.

Cakes in a freezer

But back to Sées. One of the most interesting parts of the shop was a freezer with a glass door that was full of cakes. I didn't ask and don't remember a sign on the freezer, but maybe they were ice cream cakes. Photos included. Pretty much every little French town has a bakery like this one. And of course bigger towns and cities have several or many of them.

10 comments:

  1. Interesting to see the prices. The bakery food is probably a bit cheaper than we would pay here for the same. I suppose in Paris they would usually cost a lot more.

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  2. Hi to Cheryl! Have a great time!

    Wowzer, those are some mighty fine looking pâtisseries/viennoiseries :)) Plus, I do love those tile signs :))

    Do they make ice cream cakes in France?!? I thought that was purely a Baskin Robbins contribution to the world (though I dislike them). Don't these look rather more like some kind of cream-based things? They look heavenly.

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  3. Those almond croissants were good, but I like yours more since they are lighter. The ones I made for my bridge group using your techniques were great.
    I also like the croissants stuffed with your plum jelly.

    Your weather is unbelievable- but you deserve it after your damp chilly summer. Looking forward to hearing about your new adventures while remembering the sights at Sées;)

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  4. Lovely photos - I love gazing into boulangerie windows - yum yum!!

    I hope your weather lasts a bit longer. We will be chez nous in just over a week and we're hoping for lazy afternoon sitting on our little terrace, preferably without woolly hats or umbrellas !!

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  5. As always, your pix are just stunning. And thanks for a reminder about making almond croissants - I'm not sure I can find any here in an Amish town..but I might just try making them myself.

    Very best regards,
    -ofg

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  6. Hi Seine Judeet -- they're not really ice cream cakes. It's really, really cold mousse. Very tasty air!
    I think pastry is expensive (I live just outside Paris). It's for special occasions and it's always the kind of think I wouldn't dare try to make at home. Like Ken, I love taking pictures of great pastry in windows. Went on a "chocolate" tour of Paris a couple of years ago and it was mouth-watering.

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  7. What isn't more french than patisseries? I'm with you, Judy, I love those french tile signs!

    Thank goodness those shop keepers in the french bakeries don't mind us Americans taking pictures of all of their goodies! That's the only way I can watch my caloric intake while in France - otherwise I'd be spending all my time in pastry shops.

    Mary in Oregon

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  8. Lucky Cheryl!

    It's really hot here too. I just went for a hot hike at San Antonio. I was glad when we were finished.

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  9. The prices in the boulangerie were really low. You pay at least twice as much for those goodies in Paris.

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