Food tours — Louvre district

Paris’ Best Croissants + Pastries Near the Louvre

Parisian sophistication meets luxury gastronomy, over croissants, chocolates and a few sweet surprises.

The walk

Iconic tastes that never go out of style, next to what the rule-breakers are up to…

Enjoy the sights and sounds of daily Parisian life as you learn how to source the best ingredients for a classic French meal.

We sweep through the backstreets of the Louvre district, embracing the laid-back mood of the French flâneur…

Perhaps you will fall head over heels for French cheese (like us…)

You’ll find what only Parisians know: that our lesser-explored covered passages are outrageously elegant. Sample iconic tastes in the footsteps of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel (breathing in the memory of her scandals).

Some of Paris’ best and most inventive croissants, pitted side by side against the old favourites. Then the oldest pâtisserie in Paris, and the chocolatiers the neighbours keep to themselves.

We feel it’s time for Paris’s famed cuisine to take the driver’s seat – so together we embark on a food tour that will see you enjoying some of the world’s crunchiest baguettes and an award-winning cheese tasting. This is the side of French flavours you wouldn’t see on your own.

We soak up the Parisian chic of the covered passages of the 2nd arrondissement near the Musée du Louvre – stunning architecture, gardens and culture – and explore the Louvre district …by mouth.

From the world-famous French croissant and pain au chocolat to the perfect baguette, you’ll feel like you haven’t left a single cobbled stone unturned.

These are the finest spots in Paris to admire what we call ‘chic Paris’ – and taste a savoury Breton crêpe that is easily the best we’ve ever eaten.

The longer we write about the Paris food scene, the more our ‘edit’ of unmissable tastes swells.

You’re stepping into a place where heritage runs deep. It runs in the blood (like our equally renowned protests…).

Here we savour our collection of French flavours over a well-earned breakfast, lunch or apéritif-hour walk among our friends, les artisans – passionate experts (and a few rule breakers) – as they share their passion, their expertise, their craft.

For the most part our walks are en plein air, with many stops along the way, from table to market stall – the little food shops at the top of our list, the boulangeries on the tips of our tongues.

Weaving through narrow cobblestone streets scented with warm baguettes: a lyrical and literary journey through the gastronomic furnace of the city.

Savour The Louvre district: we swoop in to sample all of the iconic tastes that, like Paris, never go out of style – every French pastry you can imagine, an award-winning cheese tasting with opulent cheeses each more surprisingly delicious than the next, with charm and panache, with a welcome like you are a visiting friend…

Then we see what the rule breakers are up to. We move from one iconic spot to the next.

The pastries

Croissants and pain au chocolat, tasted warm. Then surprise pastries, chocolates and macarons from the neighbours’ secret spots.

The savoury

A real Breton savoury crêpe, hot off the griddle, and an award-winning cheese tasting – so the sugar doesn’t win.

The coffee

Some of the best coffee in Paris, and the French way of drinking it. Alternatives for non-coffee drinkers.

The streets

Les Halles, Montorgueil, the Palais-Royal and the covered passages. National monuments, and a few Emily in Paris filming locations.

The artisans

Our friends: the bakers, the pâtissiers, the chocolatiers and the roaster named Best Independent European Coffeeshop.

The Polaroids

Three Polaroid snaps for you to take home.

Les croissants

Real French butter, top-quality flour, and beaucoup savoir-faire.

We start where every Parisian morning starts: croissants and pain au chocolat from bakers who still laminate by hand, tasted warm, with a word on what separates the great from the merely good.

The covered passages

Glass roofs, mosaic floors, and the best pastry windows in Paris.

Galerie Vivienne

Mosaic floors, glass roofs, and a tote for the spoils.

The most elegant of the passages, 1823 and still trading: a wine cellar, a bookshop, a tea room under the rotunda. We wander it between tastes, tote in hand.

Rue Montorgueil

Paris’ original food street, and the oldest pâtisserie in Paris.

Palais-Royal

Royal arcades, striped columns.

Cardinal Richelieu’s palace, then the kings’, now the most elegant garden in Paris – ringed by arcades, lined with ateliers, and home to the Buren columns everyone photographs. We cut through on the way to the next taste.

Bibliothèque nationale de France

The Salle Labrouste: iron, glass and nine domes, a few steps from the pâtisserie.

The savoury

A Breton crêpe, then an award-winning cheese tasting.

So the sugar doesn’t win. A real Breton savoury crêpe – buckwheat, ham, cheese, folded hot off the griddle. Then our curated tasting of unexpected French cheeses: one that has won the World Cheese Awards, the most opulent cheese in France, and one that’s hard to find. Opulent, rare, each one more surprisingly delicious than the next. (You can try Brie at home.)

Chocolates and macarons

In search of the French macaron, in intimate boutiques.

Chocolates and macarons from the neighbours’ secret spots, zigzagging away from the crowd. And why the French way of eating is UNESCO World Heritage.

Award-winning Paris roasters

Paris has good coffee now. Finally.

Some of the best coffee in Paris, at a spot named Best Independent European Coffeeshop, and the French way of drinking it. Alternatives for non-coffee drinkers.

Pâtisserie

Try the classics and the newcomers.

Leisurely savour the icons of French pâtisserie. We started with croissants, but we don’t stop there – first we try what’s best, then we try what’s next, from the classics to something unexpected.

Les infos

Reserve or enquire

Curious to taste the icons of French pastry?

Monday to Saturday on the calendar, up to 8 guests. For private groups of any size, team-building and special events, tell us about your party.