You are looking at one of the reasons we moved to France. Bread, aka le pain. It’s a quality-of-life thing: we figured that even if we had to put our careers on hold, at least we’d be able to enjoy fresh bread every day. Lovely, crusty, light-as-a-feather baguette right out of the oven. Sans preservatives, as I memorably informed my late mother-in-law.
There is a boulangerie on every street corner in Paris and at least one in every village. In thousands of mom-and-pop shops from Nantes to Nice, the baker is at the ovens in the wee hours every morning, and you can buy a warm baguette from about 6:30 a.m. Such unfailing devotion is encrusted* in the very fiber* of le boulanger.
One of my first challenges in France was being able to go into the local bakery and buy what I wanted. There are so many kinds of bread, often with no labels at all to help you identify them. Like so many things in France, il faut savoir. The classic French stick, la baguette, seemed like the safest bet. At least I knew what that was called. And was able to pronounce it.
Despite this, I would experience a sort of stage fright when going to the bakery. I’d rehearse the words in my head and get my change ready in advance so as not to be caught unprepared.
‘Je voudrais une baguette, s’il vous plaît,’ I would say primly, attempting a smile.
The baker-woman (inevitably the baker is a man, and the woman who serves you his wife), would look at me impassibly, then pass me a French stick with the words: ‘Deux francs cinquante.’ No smile. I handed over the money (we still used French francs back in the day) and exited stage left. That was the sum total of my interactions at the bakery for several weeks.
There were other, friendlier places in our quartier. But this small bakery with barely a sign on the door had the neighborhood’s best bread (very likely why the woman felt no need to be friendly.)
Then the day came when I dared to take it a step further. I’d noticed that most people didn’t bother formulating an entire sentence, so I dropped the ‘je voudrais’ (which my husband was always telling me was just this side of polite). More importantly, I observed other customers asking for a particular ‘cuisson’ – ‘done-ness’ of the bread: bien cuite (crusty), peu cuite (pale) or, my preferred in-between state, pas trop cuite.
‘Une baguette, pas trop cuite, s’il vous plaît,’ I ventured.
The woman really looked at me for the first time, seeming to register a person attached to the request. She reached for a perfect, lightly bronzed baguette and added, “Deux francs cinquante.” The rest of the exchange was as before.
After several weeks, a couple of things changed. I would enter the bakery, start to ask for a baguette and before I could complete the request, she would hand me a ‘pas trop cuite.” With the tiniest glimmer of a smile. I was a regular.
Later I would graduate to asking for other kinds of bread: un pain (a full-size, broader loaf), un bâtard (half way between the baguette and le pain), a boule, flûte or pain de campagne. Seigle (rye) or levain (sour-dough).
I also learned the proper way to ask for croissants, or ‘viennoiseries.’ That’s the generic word for the category of baked goods that includes croissants, pain au chocolat, pain au raisin, brioche and a host of other calorie-laden breakfast treats. Yet even when I could say all those things, it was sometimes hard to choose, and they always seemed to expect that you knew exactly what you wanted as soon as you walked in.
‘Madame?’ the baker-woman asked. ‘Uhhh….je voudrais un pain au chocolat, et puis…’ I raked my brain to decide what else and blanked. ‘Je vais réfléchir,’ I concluded. I’m going to think about it. She looked at me like I was a few centimes short of a franc, then moved on to serve the next customer while I pondered my life-changing choice of croissants.
Here are a few things I learned about French bakeries:
- There are two kinds of bakery: boulangeries for bread and pâtisseries for cakes and pastries. Most do both but almost always specialize in one thing more than another. Hence, the best bread will not be found at the same place that sells the best cakes.
- The name ‘Boulangerie’ may only be used by a professional baker whose bread is baked on the premises; anything else must be called a ‘Dépôt de pain’ (bread depot).
- ‘Maitre Artisan’ is an additional sign of quality and your guarantee that the bread is baked with care by a qualified boulanger or his apprentice.
- The price of bread is not regulated per se but a complex set of rules governs its production and selling price; the bakery must display a price list including the types and weight of each kind of bread sold.
These days I almost never buy plain old baguette. In recent years, the French have gone whole grain, introducing a much wider range of organic, whole wheat and multigrain breads. My current favorite is a ficelle aux céreales (thinner than a baguette so you get more crust).
But the humble baguette de pain remains the staple of the French bakery. And perhaps my most humble memory of those early stumbling steps in French.
So, what’s your favorite loaf? French or otherwise?
*The pun is the lowest form of wit, just as the bun is the lowest form of wheat.
FranceSays 
My husband and I are currently living in the Former French Concession area of Shanghai. I have eaten so many baguettes since we arrived just about 2 months ago. Many good bakeries here! I haven’t been to Paris (yet) but I would love the chance to compare! Thank you for a great post!
Delicious. Nostalgic. Thanks for sharing!
It always amazes me how in the UK food shopping is a chore that has to be tolerated and done as fast as possible in order to escape the ordeal of the supermarket. If you approach supermarket staff with a question they look at you as though you are speaking a foreign language. It is no wonder the average shopper in Britain has given up cooking properly. Your blog shows why the French are so passionate about food.
There is a better balance in France – although there are lots of hypermarchés where people load up on convenience foods, this is offset by the multitude of bakeries, butchers and open-air markets where food shopping is truly a pleasure. Cheers!
Reblogged this on morganallison.
I’m looking forward to my trip to France in 22 days. I’ll be certain to try the various breads you describe. Thank you!
Bon voyage and hope you enjoy Paris!
bread with cheese ……
Unfortunately I live in a country with shocking bread, so I’ve taken to making my own. One of my favourite breads is a Peter Reinhart recipe for Pain a l’Ancienne. Check it out if you ever get stranded somewhere off the continent 🙂
I love pain à l’ancienne but not sure I’d ever be motivated enough to make it myself….good for you!
Reblogged this on The Mercurial Butterfly.
Merci for the reblog!
De rien! It made me miss the days when I lived in Paris and ate une baguette a day…thanks for the post!
Did you seriously move to France for the bread? Funniest thing I’ve ever heard. I sometimes miss French food but I wouldn’t go back to my country unless it’s Christmas and I’d need to see my family again. Plus Ireland copies baguettes decently.
Well, not just for the bread….there was the wine and cheese too! Ha, ha….guess it’s all about quality of life. I love going back to Canada and seeing family at Christmas time, but I sure wouldn’t want to live there again! Glad to hear you get decent baguette in Ireland.
Superbly written, you’ve satisfied my tastebuds, such an enjoyable read! Words, like food, should be appreciated and savoured! Tres bien!
Merci beaucoup! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for following!
I have never understood how, even with imported flour, we cannot recreate the French loaf. When my husband travels to France, I beg him to get hold of a baguette and stow it home in his suitcase….
Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed.
Merci M’dame!
Loved this post.. Makes me want to go to Paris and get a fresh loaf! There isn’t anything better than a fresh loaf of warm bread.. Yummo! Thanks for sharing!
Reblogged this on divinelighthealer and commented:
I love brioche and baguettes
Glad my post inspired you! Bon voyage on your journey…
in south of France, we call a pain au chocolat une chocolatine, don’t forgive that!!! for the bread, the hardest part is to find a true artisan who don’t defreezing industrial paste.
Reblogged this on ahmadrmahfooz.
nothing like fresh bread!
Cheers, Margo!