Best baguettes in Paris

Do you speak French? Because I suspect it would be very hard to find a Paris baker of baguettes who could "chat" with you in English.

I do speak french, will have to brush up on bakery vocabulary, but I could get by..

The Boulangerie Poilane in Paris is said to be the best of the best. A very posh store in Montreal actually flies in their bread daily and sells it at astronomical prices to the rich and foolish. If you contact Poilane perhaps you could arrange a chat.

May I suggest the following websites.... Meet The French.com and Cook'with class.com. The first website has bolangeries you can visit. The second site is really neat . You can take classes in baking. I have been to both of these and they are really great.. The first is not expensive , and the second one is expensive, but worth it.

There's an official award for the "Best Baguette in Paris," by the way. The shop across from our apartment came in #2 or 3.

Here's an article on the most recent outcome:
http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/best-baguette-prize-awarded-in-paris/

As Norma mentioned, go to Poilane. If you are a baker, this store is heaven. (Go to the original on Cherche-Midi).

Poilane

They don't sell baguettes. But, for their creativity and selection, it's worth a visit for a baker.

Appolonia, the owner, is young, half-American, fluent in English and a recent Harvard grad. She inherited the business from her parents. (It's doubtful she'll be around for a chat.)

For your purposes, I'd avoid Poilane and the other chains and go to a smaller boulangerie. Peter has given you this year's best baguette winner and last year's winner was Grenier de Felix at 64 Avenue Felix Faure in the 15th.

One of the things I look forward to most when I go to France is the bread. I just love it and can't imagine having anything else for breakfast especially with the wonderful French butter and confiture. There are many fine bakeries, one of my favorites is Poujauran on rue Jean Nicot in the 7th.

La Poilane is accepted as one, if not the, greatest bakery in the world. Here is a link to the website:

http://www.poilane.fr/index.php?lang=fr

It is a wonderful place, and there is a restaurant next door that creates delicious tartines with the bread, and it makes a lovely lunch.

Besides bread, you can also buy the French flour used for these breads, which is fun to play with at home.

Food blogs about Paris are a dime a dozen, and baking blogs are very common too...I'd think the way to go about this is to start connecting with Parisian residents/bloggers who may have an "in" (or at least familiarity with) good bakers. The foodie community is generally very friendly--I'd be surprised if you weren't able to start a relationship that might open some doors for you.

Go for a walk in the neighborhood, early in the morning. The boulangeries with the most local traffic and queues of people out their doors have the best bread, and are usually sold out by early afternoon.

Poilane has a great reputation. I've read several articles about how French bread has gone downhill, it's not made the traditional way in many places, and is produced in industrial settings (yes, even Poilane). It still tastes great to me, so much better than US bread. I think for Liza's purposes a more traditional baker would be more helpful. Sorry I don't know any personally, Liza, but I hope you find one.