Expat with Kids in Paris: Two girls with a sweet tooth

February 7, 2015

Two girls with a sweet tooth

Once again, I was walking through the metro station when a poster caught my eye, primarily because it was pink and was written in a fancy font. "Salon Sugar Paris" was all it said. The message was supported by a picture of pink macaroons stacked to form a tower and a few éclairs covered in pink icing. That's all it took, I had decided where I was going to take Expat Girl this weekend.

We hopped into the metro on Saturday and crossed Paris from one end to the other, all the way to La Villette. Expat Girl astute as always asked me: "Mummy is this area more modest than the West of Paris?" This made me think for a while and I contemplated, once again, how safe Paris actually is. Given the size and cultural diversity of this city, I have never felt out-of-place on the metro or any of the arrondissements and I have ventured into all of them over the past four years.

We emerged from the metro to be greeted by blue skies and an impressive modern complex called Parc de la Villette. We ventured into La Grande Halle formerly a slaughterhouse and now a cultural center constructed in 1867, made of cast iron and glass.

We bought our tickets and arrived in cake decoration heaven. Every colour fondant, every single mold, every gadget and every accessory you can think of for baking and decorating cakes was to be found.

We ate our way from stand to stand by tasting the chocolate, the candies, the fondants, the marzipans, the mousses and the caramels. We bought a vintage baking pin and had a long conversation with a charming English lady who was demonstrating how to mix and roll fondant properly. A Spanish chef thought us how to form roses to decorate the cakes and a pair of Dutch ladies tried to sell us pink t-shirts saying "I survived Salon Sugar Paris 2015".

As I am writing this post Expat Girl is baking a cake and very excited to try all the new techniques of decorating that she has learnt this afternoon.

I'll tell you a secret though: our favourite stand was - I dare admit - the Chapon Mousse au Chocolat bar!