Strolling down Rue du Bac, Paris

As we continued down Rue du Bac, one of our favorite shopping streets in Paris, we couldn’t help but notice the lines winding out of Pâtisserie des Rêves… If Angelina has a history of more than 100 years in business, Pâtisserie des Rêves is a relatively recent creation, and is causing waves from the looks of folks lined up for their breads, pastries and cakes.

We got on line but realized it would be a good half hour before we even got close to the counter, so we decided to leave this one for another day.

I am not sure what the appeal is, but anytime Parisians line up like this voluntarily, conventional wisdom suggests it must be good…

A little further down the road, and you might easily bypass it, is a wonderful little watch store that carries second hand (vintage) watches and some terrific accessories for watch enthusiasts. When I graduated with an MBA 25 years ago, I was lucky enough to land a good job and with my sign-on bonus I bought my first snazzy watch, which I still have to this day. The manufacturer stopped making it a few years ago, but I found one in this shop and was shocked to see it was now worth much more than I had paid for it 25 years ago! This store also carries really supple watch storage/carrying roll-up cases just in case you travel with 6-8 different timepieces to match with your mood for the day… :)

A few steps more an more sweets at Des Gateaux et du Pain, which looked so chic we just peered in through the windows and kept on strolling.

Across the street we spent some time in the fabulous Fabriani shop that had Italian paper and leathergoods. Mrs. MM is a huge paper store fan, so this was definitely her kind of store. It was quite pricey, however, and we just admired the goods on offer.

Perhaps one the single most visually stunning “jewel box of a chocolate store” award has to go to Chapon.

Those tubs of chocolate mousse in the window were enough to make your heart skip a beat in a very good way!

The most amazing packaging enrobes some pretty darned good chocolate. Not my favorite chocolate, but pretty good.

Boucherie du Bac is a carnivore’s wet dream. It was the day before American Thanksgiving when I took these shots and the butcher was advertising that they had some nice fresh organic turkeys for Americans planning a feast. In addition, locals were lined up to buy some meat for their dinner.

Imagine a 1-kilo chunk of that entrecôte in the middle of the photo above. At Euro 32 a kilo (roughly PHP1,600) which would easily serve 2 or 3, it’s not that outrageous compared to eating out at a restaurant!

Other “essentials” like foie gras, chips, butter, pâtes, etc. were abundantly displayed. Other stores on the block include fine pen shops, silversmiths, a Conran shop, and lots of others. Imagine all of this in the pre-Christmas mood, it was a wonderful early evening stroll in brisk weather. I am pretty sure that I could live in either New York or Paris at this point…