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.

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Threadneedles Hotel, London

Stayed at the Threadneedles Hotel overnight before my flight to Paris the next morning. Threadneedles is an excellent and impressive hotel in the city. It is a very nice boutique hotel converted from what used to be a old bank headquarters . The unassuming front door on Threadneedles street leads into the impressive main lobby area (the old banking hall) taking in the amazing period detail in the grand glass dome. 

The location is good with Bank and Liverpool Street tube stations located nearby, so its easy to get to the West End.You are also very close to the royal exchange in case you want to indulge in some luxury shopping

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Chocolate adventure in Zurich

You can’t travel to Zurich and not eat chocolate. Bahnhofstrasse is the main drag which runs for the train station to the lake. This stretch of Zurich is the most expensive commercial real estate. Excellent shops, anything you want is right there. Including many chocolate shops with beautiful displays in the windows and equally beautiful to look at. If you have just few hours to spend in Zurich, make no mistake: chocolate should be a priority.


There are many fantastic chocolate stores in Bahnhofstrasse, the famous names and the lesser known places. The amount and varied types of chocolates in the store is really astounding. Various Cocoa-dusted “truffle cakes", sophisticated pastries, pralines and hand made truffles arranged for a perfect display share the limelight in each of these stores. The only problem with buying from one chocolate shop, is that not long later you’ll stumble into another chocolate shop. However if you like to go for the handmade truffles or other specialities "Spruengli" and "Teuscher" are probably still the best.

Sprungli is the most famous confiserie, with its flagship storefront on Bahnhofstrasse. The chocolate here are excellent, but it is more known for "Luxemburgeli",kind of tiny macaroon or meringues with various cream fillings.

 

Teuscher is well-known for its Champagne truffles and they also have "Batons Kirsch",dark chocolate sticks filled with liqueur and dusted with cocoa.

The chocolates in these shops are expensive, but you can buy chocolates by the piece, just one or a small box.If nothing else, just walking around these acclaimed chocolate shops is an adventure by itself .

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24 hours in Geneva

I arrived in Geneva around 12:00 pm. The 2.5 hours train ride from Zurich to Geneva is a beautiful one; it’s a destination in itself. It goes thru fields, forests, lakes, and mountains. The scenery was amazing: There were Swiss chalets everywhere! Vineyards were terraced on nearly vertical mountainsides, Castles tucked in mountains, Mansions bordered the lake. The train goes through multiple tunnels through the mountains. Sometimes we would emerge from a tunnel for few seconds, glimpse the mountains, and be plunged back into darkness again. Realistically speaking, traveling by train in Switzerland is expensive but worth the price. To me, the view is worth a million dollars. 

Geneva is a beautiful city with a very international crowd, I reckon its the presence of the international organizations like UN, WHO,WTO et al,...It is geographically well situated, surrounded by the Alps and adjacent to Lake Geneva. It is lively, clean and got a mixture of old and new. It is both cosmopolitan and touristy. Not surprising, it has an American stamp as well. McDonalds and Starbucks are in every major square.

The main street from the train station towards the lake is lined with countless luxury watch stores. These were definitely not the watches you see in your Macy's store but were the most expensive watches I've ever seen, it easily made my Tag Heuer seem like a $0.99 mcdonald burger, Oh well ! I just put my hand in my pocket and walked passed them towards the lake. oh and there are lots of swiss knives & chocolates.

I decided to explore the lake and the Old Town. Geneva is dominated by the huge lake. The lake was filled boats, the swans, and there was the gigantic fountain- jet d'eau (the 100m high water spout) right on your face.The Jet d'Eau is fabulous and is appreciated by all as the symbol of Geneva. If you want to 'see it', its visible from most areas of Geneva around the lake

Besides the Jet d'eau, everyone goes to see the giant Flower Clock in Geneva.Well, I felt  I have to too. Luckily its right at the lake, so no special excursion. Nothing special, just a clock with flowers ! it's changing depending on the season. 

The lake front promenade was quite busy with young & old, local & tourists everywhere. After walking around the lake for an hour or so I crossed the bridge towards the old town. It is a steep walk up to the centre to the Cathédrale Saint Pierre but the narrow cobbled streets are picturesque, housing boutique shops and bars.

I spent the rest of the evening in the Old Town and on the lively streets of the new town. There are lots of shops, restaurants, Christmas bands on the streets, and to-go food stalls. That stretch is about 3 km of shops on both sides. There are no cars on the street; only public transport. The bad thing about this is that they all close early. I went into a store to buy something at six. I got out at 6:30 and everybody was closing! By seven almost everything is locked off.

Nonetheless, I think Geneva is my kind of city!

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Touchdown in Zurich!

My SWISS flight from New York landed in Zurich at 10:55 am and, even though the airport was'nt busy at all, I found myself silently wary of the location of things. I blindly followed the flow of passengers from my plane to passport control and then on to customs. The transit at some point included a short trip on an internal train which had the most awesome elevator music consisting of a mixture of mooing cows, yodelling and the sound of large cowbells. Welcome to Switzerland!! Anyone who flies to Switzerland for the first time in his or her life should fly directly toZurich airport. Here you are truly welcomed to Switzerland. 

Got thru passposrt control & customs in less than 10 mins and reached the airport outside bit that's really a high-priced shopping mall designed to lure jetlagged tourists into paying $10 bucks for a bottle of water. It was surreal.

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