Best Baguette in Paris

I wonder if they limit that to Paris so boulangeries in Lyon won't win every year...

Never found a bad one anywhere in France.

Never found a bad one anywhere in France.

Oh there definitely are some. Most still are better than a lot of the "baguettes" and "French bread" one can get in the U.S. (barring a few cities where artisan bakers take their bread seriously).

The best hint is to look for places that have a line. I used to live near a very good boulangerie in Lyon and the line out the door, especially on Sunday mornings, would sometimes be 20 deep, even in the rain. On days when it was particularly busy, they had two parallel lines: one for pre-ordered pastries, and one for bread and the occasional pastry.

The situation changes, though, when it comes to things like rolls (such hamburger buns) or, worse yet, what the French call American Sandwich (which is just standard, industrial sliced bread in the U.S.). It's as if they don't even try very hard.

Steven,
Thanks for the link to this great NYT article!
David Lebovitz has an article on his website about classic French baguette quality (tradition versus lighter texture)

https://www.davidlebovitz.com/how-to-find-a-good-baguette-in-paris/

In the end, the best baguette is a very personal choice. But when in Paris, it's fun to visit the bakery with the winning baguette to see if you agree with the judges.

Baguettes are very cheap in France. I'm guessing ever since Marie Antionette suggested they didn't really need bread and could eat cake instead.

When I'm there I get a taste for baguettes as part of my meals. Then I come home to ridiculously priced (and not nearly as good) baguettes in the store. Just about the time I stop missing them, I'm back to France.

Baguettes are very cheap in France.

As are croissants, pain au chocolat, and similar baked goods, especially outside of cities. I'm always amazed when I go into a boulangerie in France, buy several outstanding croissants, etc., and realize that for what I just paid I'd get one sub-par croissant in the US.

Brad came close when he mentioned Marie Antoinette—yes the prices of the basic baguette and « un pain », a much larger loaf bought by families, and a couple other breads have been government regulated since the Revolution. This has led Paris bakers to become inventive and bake new breads in recent decades, such as the Tradition, nut breads, little loaves with other grains; these aren’t regulated so they can charge more. The choice today is wonderful, but the belief behind the basic price-controlled baguette is to « fend off » public unrest.

Edit: in reply to bob 71-- no one is fooled, but breads are given different names in different parts of the country. Perhaps a bread expert can speak for all of France and name all the various names given to these loaves, but I can't.

Don't fool yourself that breads such a la tradition are limited to Paris or somehow are a sole creation of boulangeries in Paris. They're widespread and much in demand. Superior in almost all instances to a baguette.

breads are given different names in different parts of the country.

And it also depends on the flour mill that the boulangerie is affiliated with. I don't pay too much attention to the names when I buy bread at a boulangerie.

Une (baguette) tradition is a very common name in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. I'm quite sure I bought some in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur when I visited earlier this year. I'll check in Nouvelle-Aquitaine when I'm there in July and let you know.

By "fool yourself" I was commenting on the implied assumption, as I inferred from the wording of your comment ("Paris bakers"), that essentially everything in France (such as the names of types of bread) originates in Paris.

It's a common mistake to assume something like that, springing, I suspect, because so many people's exposure to France -- not necessarily yours -- starts and ends with Paris. In reality it's a pretty diverse nation.

Wasn't the OP about the Best Baguette in Paris? I didn't think any assumptions were being made . . .rather I saw the use of "Paris bakers" as topic directed.

Yes, you're correct. I derailed things somewhat by bringing up other areas and I should not have done so.

My apologies to all.

I first saw Traditions winter 2006. Arriving in time to buy Sunday bread, we were surprised to have to tell the clerk what kind of baguette we wanted. In some places you find "festive" and "banon", depending on bakery chain or mill, as Robert pointed out.

Anyway, it's a recent phenomena (at least to me) developed to be able to earn a little more because the bakers weren't making it financially with the regulated baguette and pain.