Where to find the best croissants in Paris?

by Pim under Paris, Travel, Uncategorized with 14 Comments

Monday, July 14, 2008


(The interactive map might not display properly on certain RSS readers, in which case you’ll have to click on Chez Pim to see it.)

Because the best croissant in Paris is truly a good one withing convenient distance to where you happen to be staying, I’m posting this map for you.  It’s a treasure map of sort, on it I put all the good addresses for some of the best croissants I know in town.  No matter where you are in Paris you should be able to easily get to one of these places on this map.

In a city as big as Paris and with a good boulangerie or patisserie on practically every block, I’m sure I’ve missed a few of your favorite places.  No need to jump on me for the sins of omission, just add your own bonnes adresses in the comment section.  ;-)

To use the map, you can drag it to recenter or click on the + or – to zoom in or out.  Clicking on each dot on the map will bring up a little window with more info on the place.  It’s basically GoogleMap provided by this neat service called Nomao.  You can also see a list with addresses and a bit more information after the jump.  I’ve listed them in groups by nearby landmarks–near the Eiffel tower, near the Marais and Bastille, etc–to give even those of you who don’t know Paris very well a general idea of where these places are.

Happy croissant hunting!

The Marais and Bastille
Au Levain du Marais 
32, Rue de Turenne, 75003

Au Levain du Marais
28, Boulevard Beaumarchais, 75011

Boulangerie Marache
92, Avenue de la République, 75011

Saint-Germain and Odéon
Eric Kayser 
10, Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie, 75006

Pierre Hermé
72, Rue Bonaparte, 75006

Near the Eiffel Tower
Le Moulin de la Vierge
64, Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007

Patisserie Jean Millet
103, Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007

Le Pain de Marie
85, Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007

Near Les Halles
Stohrer
51, Rue Montorgueil, 75002

Near Gare Montparnasse

Frédéric Comyn
27, Rue Friant, 75014

Le Moulin de la Vierge
85, Rue Daguerre, 75014
(also great breads baked in a wood-fired oven)

Near Jardin des Plantes
Boulangerie Duchêne
2, Rue Wurtz, 75013

Near Place d’Italie and Chinatown
Boulangerie Renard
113, Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75013

Near Père Lachaise Cemetary

A la Flûte Gana
226, Rue des Pyrénées, 75020
closed sun, mon

In the 16th arrondissement

Boulangerie Bechu 
Avenue Victor Hugo, 75116

In the 17th arrondissement

Le Quartier du Pain 
116, Rue de Tocqueville, 75017

Le Moulin de la Vierge
6, Impasse de Lévis, 75017

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  • Karim

    Hi Pim
    I am not sure the Moulin de la Vierge bakery at Daguerre should belong to your list…
    My last visit there was a few month ago, perhaps you have more recent intelligence. The place used to be very good indeed, but changed owner sometime last year and while I can’t say for the croissant, its bread and cakes are sadly not wat they used to be.

  • http://www.pasttheline.blogspot.com Simone

    Thanks for the info. on the croissants. I hope to be in Paris in the spring, which is way too long away. I am always on the hunt for the best croissant where ever I am. Also, I was recently in San Francisco and when doing research on restaurants I happened upon your post on 1550 Hyde Wine Bar and Cafe. You were right, it was wonderful. Thanks!

  • Crystal Ciancutti

    Not in Paris, but since you and a lot of readers are in the Bay Area…
    The best croissants I’ve had, including in Paris, are from Fleur de Cocoa in Los Gatos, CA. The pastry chef is French, and French-trained, and both his breakfast pastries and desserts are astonishingly good.

  • Shelli

    There’s an Eric Kayser at the top of rue Montorgueil in the 2nd (actually it’s rue des Petites Carreaux at that point) and of course Gerard Mulot on rue de Seine in the 6th.
    Haven’t had croissants at Pain de Sucre, have you?

  • http://www.5secondrule.typepad.com Cheryl

    Oooh, I love that Crystal recommended Fleur de Cocoa in Los Gatos because I live a mere 10 minutes away. I’ve had their pain au chocolat but not their plain, butter croissants.
    I leave you with this question: aren’t all croissants in Paris pretty darn good?

  • Vicky

    My husband and I systematically disagree about which croissants we like best…but we both agree that the croissants at Pain de sucre are tooo flaky. My favourites in the 3rd are from Leloup Gourmand, 129 rue du Temple (http://marais.evous.fr/Leloup-Gourmand.html) – and the patron, Bernard, is an angel. It’s closed on weekends, so my fall-back is La Fougasse, 25 rue de Bretagne (http://www.parismarais.com/shopping-guide/la-fougasse/la_fougasse.htm) – and they fairly often produce almond croissants, which are absolutely to-die-for.

  • http://profile.typekey.com/julotlespinceaux/ julotlespinceaux

    Best croissant does not have one single answer, far from it, even when you pretend you would be ready to cross the city for it. But the interesting thing is that almost each good bakery offers croissants that are different and with different appeal: some are lighter than air, some very bready, some buttery, some melty, some creamy (somehow), some crispy, some sweet. “Croissant”, it’s a bit like a simple theme that every musician interprets his own way, revealing his personality through that anonymous and identical piece… Anyway, some addresses that I offer for consideration on your map:
    La Fleur d’Oranger
    13, rue Lebon, 75017
    Gérard Mulot,
    76, rue de Seine (75006) et 6, rue du Pas de la Mule (75004)
    Le Boulanger de Monge
    123, rue Monge 75005 and now a new branch 48 rue Clef
    Arnaud Delmontel
    39 rue des Martyrs 75009
    Seurre (don’t miss the pain au chocolat aux amandes)
    22, rue des Martyrs 75009
    Le Grenier à Pain (a franchise chain, my favourite branches are:)
    91 fbg Poissonière 75009
    12 rue du 8 mai 1945, 75010
    52 av d’Italie 75013 (the original, not necessarily the best)
    33 bis rue Saint Amand 75015
    Pichard
    88 rue cambronne 75015

  • http://www.budgetcollegecook.com mike

    Pim,
    Have you visited all of these places within the past couple of years?

  • Lyn Reid

    Dalloyau, at the Luxembourg Gardens and elsewhere, surely belongs. Particularly for the almond croissants.
    http://www.dalloyau.fr/

  • http://www.theduckquacking.blogspot.com daphne

    I have been a silent reader for some time… I have always enjoyed reading your posts.. this one with the map on paris make me want to fly there and get one croissant immediately!

  • http://www.rasamalaysia.com Rasa Malaysia

    I took a picture of a greeny looking chili sauce (freshly-made) in BKK just now it was fiery but very good. Going to ask you for the recipe.

  • http://danamccauley.wordpress.com Dana McCauley

    My GPS sorts items on maps by many criteria but not by croissant. Sad. Perhaps you could contact the GPS folks and help them with this gap in their service?

  • http://www.tiffanyfree.com/tiffany-pendants.html Tiffany Pendant

    Oops, re-reading that it sounded a little critical, I was more wondering what I did wrong, how I can make it better. Any suggestions?

  • Vence

    You can find an article on the special christmas pastries of Pain de Sucre on http://blog.paris3e.fr/post/2010/12/16/Bientot-Noel-Truffes-buches-et-tarte-aux-truffes