...de Saint-Aignan... pour le moment. A week or two ago I wrote about my plan to have a croissant every morning with my first cup of tea, and with the dog. We share. At the time, I was buying croissants at the supermarket. I've changed my ways. Here's a photo of the best croissant I've found in the Saint-Aignan area so far.
This croissant pur beurre comes from the Pâtisserie du Château on the main street in Saint-Aignan. According to Google Maps, the shop is just over two kilometers (1½ miles) from our house as the crow flies. Unfortunately, I can't fly but I can drive there. It takes just over five minutes each way. I did it yesterday morning. That would be almost an hour's walk each way, with no sidewalks for most of the distance, so I'll probably be going to the shop by car once or twice a week to keep myself supplied. The croissants freeze well and are easy and quick to thaw out in the microwave. The one in my picture came out of the freezer this morning.
Above is a picture I took of the Pâtisserie du Château on a day in July more than a decade ago.
It was fun to be in Saint-Aignan at 7:00 a.m. yesterday. The Pâtisserie du Château opens its doors at 6:45 a.m. At that hour, the town is very dark, except for flood lights that illuminate the towers and walls of the château and the church. Besides six croissants, which go for the princely sum of 1.10 euros apiece, I picked up a baguette de tradition to have with lunch, and two éclairs (au chocolat and à la vanille) for our dessert. It was raining lightly, which made everything even more picturesque, with my car's headlights reflecting off the cobblestone streets of the town.
I have one more bakery in Saint-Aignan where I want to try the croissants. I'll get there soon and see how its croissants compare to Le Château's. The last time I went there it was about 9:00 a.m. I asked for a croissant, the woman in charge of the place said I'd need to come back in about an hour. She had already sold her first batch of croissants and was waiting for a new batch to to be pulled out of the oven.
A buttery favourite at the weekend here, with our home made Seville orange and lemon marmalade, marmite and fresh blueberries, after cooked breakfasts over the week. Pats 🚜
ReplyDeleteThe bakeries alone make France a magical place to visit or live.
ReplyDeleteOh, boy, I bet that was good! Do you drink English Breakfast tea for your morning tea, or something else? I am really a coffee person, but my sisters and Doug are tea drinkers, and they have their particular favorites in the morning (Betsy: Chai tea; Doug: English breakfast tea; Lynne: Earl Grey tea).
ReplyDeleteI went to Google maps to see Pâtisserie du château, also, and they had a pretty good street view from 2024, but my favorite, was finding that they had lots and lots of interior photos, showing their shop, their display cases, and lots of photos of specialties they've made. Wonderful to see!
Have you tried using your air fryer for crisping up your croissant, after thawing it?
This post made me homesick for France. I love being out early in the mornings. My current breakfast is honey peanut butter toast but I may try to find a good bakery for good croissants (but they won't be as good as yours lol)
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to have refound your blog! I will be following you daily once again. Your comment about princely sum of 1.1 Euro for the croissant? I live near a store that charges 5-7$ which is about 5-7 Euros each.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'd call expensive.... Are you in France? In a big city?
DeleteKen that looks so good, and flaky!
ReplyDeleteThe Château bakery's croissants are flaky and buttery, but not too buttery. Yesterday, Walt went to the other bakery in Saint-Aignan and got a few of their croissants. They were good, but very darkly done (not to say burned) on top, and slightly more buttery. I've thought of at least two more bakeries not far east of Saint-Aignan that might have good croissants too. I'll have to drive over that way this coming week.
DeleteSo nice to have the option to try all these!
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