A good holiday means that every breakfast feels like a Sunday breakfast. You aren’t constantly on the run, you aren’t harried and flustered. Or at least you aren’t most of the time. A party of 3, which includes a 10 year old just on the cusp of her growth spurt and thus requiring a good 10-12 hours of sleep to avoid grumpiness is extremely difficult to get organized by 9 or 10 am in the morning. Thus the languid pace of our trip… I often got out to the markets, shopped and photographed, walked back to the apartment and ate breakfast before any stirring occurred. Our first morning in Barcelona, however, we were still a bit jet-lagged and rose at 730am, totally famished… we donned jackets and headed out the door to catch the opening of La Boqueria and to find something to eat…
After watching several of the merchants setting up their stalls and unloading produce, we chanced upon a small bakery on the side of the market. We quickly ordered one croissant, one pain au chocolat and one ham croissant. We ate 
these standing up watching the goings on in the market. They were so good (also partially because we were so HUNGRY) that we bought “another round,†and we all got to taste each of the three items. I would return to this bakery at least two more times during the stay. The next morning, breakfast became a little fancier… some fresh croissants with creamy butter and a bowl of mixed berries that included large strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and spectacular tiny “forest†berries. Served with some nice fresh cream, they were perfect. Add a glass of superb freshly squeezed orange juice and a cup of tea and things were feeling like Sunday every day…
5 Responses
Your breakfast sounds superb..I on the other hand just had a bowl of oatmeal with ground flax seed so am very, very jealous. Might have to treat myself to some croissants and a pain au chocolat this week. Am also very happy because I saw some fresh rasberries and blueberries in Rustan’s this week..ah the simple pleasures!
one of the keenest pleasures in life is to wake up early in the morning for a good, hearty breakfast. ah! to rise up with the sun in europe and sit down to such a repast as you describe – what a delectable thought, marketman, which i hope to realize soonest. terrific picture. drooling here!
I also treasure breakfasts when I’m on vacation. That’s a particularly eye-catching photo of croissants and berries, MM. Now I’m craving croissants.
Anyone have an idea where to get the best croissants in Manila? Or is that like asking for fresh buko juice in Paris?
Best croissants in Manila are from Le Couer de France. It’s the only place that reminds me of the croissants we had while wandering down the Champs Elysses or St. Germain neighborhoods. Try to have them newly baked as they have the ovens in the store. So Goood!
Also, the tiny “forest” strawberries you talk of are highly sought after and unique to the Catalans. It’s preferred over the U.S. and Japanese gargantuan berries as it’s more packed with flavor.