The incomparable Lenôtre. When I take the Metro to Ecole Militaire, I take the exit nearest their shop so I can oogle over the displays in the windows.  It’s like a great  fashion show to me. Wow, what originality, what colors and tastes! Look at the round pink cake: so chic and so … Chanel!  And they taste as good as they look.  Gaston Lenôtre founded the business in the 1950′s.  He came from Normandy where they still purchase the best butter in France for their pastries … and opened his first shop in the Paris suburbs.  They expanded into Paris and Lenôtre became an institution, catering for many of the Grand Couturier Fashion Shows and for the Elysée Palace.

Gaston passed away at a ripe old age several few months ago and France practically declared a day of National Mourning. His family have carried on the tradition of making some of the finest pastries … but they won’t let you take photographs inside the store because they are afraid of Industrial Espionage. I love the French! When you can simply buy the pastries and tkae them home to photograph and eat, how can you protect trade secrets???  Pierre Herme’ lets you photograph everything in his shop … and delighted customers post their photos with rave reviews on the web, great free advertising.  Maybe someone in social media can have a talk with the Lenotre PR department one day…