Paul

There weren’t many choices at 6 in the morning, so I just went with this knowing that my previous experience wasn’t that great. This was the closest thing to my gate. The service wasn’t great, but I don’t blame them since it’s so early in the morning and they had a huge line.
I had a café latte and a pain au chocolat. The café latte was horrible and probably the worst I had. The espresso tasted burnt and watery. I usually don’t usually put sugar in my coffee and even after I put it in this, it still tasted horrible.
The pain au chocolat is where the stars go to. It was flaky, crispy, and they had an large size one. This was the best way to say goodbye to Paris with one last pain au chocolat.

Items Selected:
Emmental and Mimolette Bread
Apple Frangipane Tart
Chocolate and Pistachio Macarons
Described by a friend as «sort of like a French Panera, but way better… and better than most ‘Artisinal’ places in the US as well,» I’d noticed branches of Paul Boulangerie and Patisserie during previous trips to Paris as well as London, and with a two-​hour layover at CDG as part of an 18 hour flight the opportunity finally presented to take a taste — the previous ¾ day of vegetables no longer holding my hunger with another three hours before lunch in Lyon.
Founded in 1889, and since incorporated under the Groupe Holder banner along with nearby Laduree, Paul is presented as a pair of sunken enclaves within the 2E terminal and opting for the smaller location due to the shorter line it was after a few minutes of indecision that choices were made — a mere 12 € exchanged for four selections ranging from merely decent to surprisingly quite great.
Generally preferring sweet to savory, and tantalized by no less than two-​dozen choices of the former, it was with a simple tart of apples and almond paste that breakfast began and with an all butter crust that remained flaky despite the substantial filling it was immediately obvious that few shortcuts are taken in Paul’s preparation despite the 400+ stores worldwide, the duo of jumbo-​zied macarons perhaps a bit gummy when compared to smaller boutiques but certainly on par with those served at Bouchon back stateside, and cheaper even when accounting for currency exchange.
Transitioning next to savory, an option that simply couldn’t be overlooked as warm loaves had just arrived as I was waiting in line, suffice it to say that at 3.40 € the 12oz Pain Flamand Emmental Mimolette was the undoubted star of the show, and although one cannot be certain as to whether this is the same unpasteurized Mimolette essentially banned from United States import I’m confident in saying the flavor is every bit as nutty and sweet as expected, while the mild Swiss adds just the right bit of brine — a bread that would have shined within Michelin Starred environs, let alone a ‘quick casual’ concept in the middle of a major transportation hub.