Croissant crawl in France

Every time I have visited France, I am determined to find the best croissant in the city.  There are several boulangeries all around french cities, but if you are not local or do not have the local knowledge, just going to the first boulangerie you see, could be a hit or miss. Anyways in the hunt for THE croissant place in France whilst being a tourist,I have come to conclusion  that there are couple chain boulangeries in France, that fulfills my quest of the tasty pastries. Albeit, not the best top tier  patisseries or croissants , however you will find them in all major cities around France, so you know what you are getting.

Paul, is a boulangerie/bakery chain in France. I found this chain of boulangeries in Paris to be among one of the best.  My first visit to Paul's was the store in Champs Elysees and I liked it so much that I ended up visiting various other Paul in Paris, Nice & Cannes

The stores itself are impeccably French in a black shop-front with its large glass windows where you can see the bread arranged on wooden shelves and baguettes in baskets like umbrellas in a stand. 

Paul store in Cannes

You see, I'm quite a croissant connoisseur so I limited myself to buying just croissants, pain au chocolat & escargots each time. But the display of various flans, cakes, tarts, and sweets sure looks delicious. All the viennoiseries (translates to breakfast pastries in american english) costs between 1 and 1.50 euro each and were soft, fresh and delicious. Paul also have some delicious little Brioches and Bignets. Some french people say Paul is not great but hey, coming from USA where the freshest croissants at Starbucks is a day old, I really can't complain.

Bignets filled with Nutella

There is also has another chain of boulangerie called "La Brioche Dorée", I went there couple of times and its probably not my favorite ,I prefer the boulangerie of Paul anyday, but they do sell something called  a "maxi pain au chocolat" which is more than twice the size of a regular pan au chocolat almost the size of a brick for under 2 euros and its great for lunch if you don't like savory sandwiches.