Food tours — Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Best Croissants + Pastries of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Left Bank pâtisseries, from the classic to the couture. A sweet grazing walk through the quarter of writers, galleries and grand cafés.

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 Saint-Germain-des-Prés, embracing the laid-back mood of the French flâneur…

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

Where the pastry chefs have become couturiers.

The grand pâtisseries of the Left Bank, and the neighbourhood bakery around the corner that quietly beats them.

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 creamiest cheeses. This is the side of French flavours you wouldn’t see on your own.

We soak up the Parisian chic of the rarefied Saint-Germain district – stunning architecture, gardens and culture – and explore Saint-Germain-des-Prés …by mouth.

From the world-famous French croissant and pain au chocolat to the baguettes that have won awards, you’ll feel like you haven’t left a single cobbled stone unturned.

These are the finest spots in Paris to admire the intellectual and artistic furnace of the City of Light – 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.

Long favoured by artists, aristocrats and film stars. It couldn’t be more fitting that we alight here for a few hours to bask in Parisian literary and gastronomic culture.

Savour Saint-Germain-des-Prés: we swoop in to sample all of the iconic tastes that, like Paris, never go out of style – every French pastry you can imagine, 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, wine poured into waiting glasses.

The pastries

Meet the icons: award-winning croissants and pain au chocolat, macarons, madeleines, éclairs, chocolates. Classics to the latest. And a few sweet surprises, of course.

The coffee

From a French roaster, as an introduction to Parisian café culture.

The streets

The chic heart of Paris: the church, the Café de Flore and the galleries of the Left Bank.

The artisans

Our friends: the roasters, the bakers, the pâtissiers and the chocolatiers who are passionate about their craft.

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 award-winners from the rest.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Galleries, bookshops, grand cafés, and the best pastry windows in Paris.

The grand cafés

Where Sartre, Hemingway and Picasso sat, and where Parisians still do.

Macarons and chocolates

In search of the French macaron, in intimate boutiques.

We’ll take you to the macaron house the neighbours love, and to Chapon, a chocolatier who treats cacao the way a vigneron treats grapes.

Award-winning Paris roasters

Paris has good coffee now. Finally.

Coffee from an award-winning French roaster, as an introduction to French café culture. Tea or juice as an alternative.

Pâtisserie

Try the classics and the newcomers.

Leisurely savour the icons of French pâtisserie. We started with croissants, but we don’t stop there – you won’t miss out on madeleines, choux à la crème, and something unexpected.

Les infos

Reserve or enquire

Curious to taste the icons of French pastry?

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