Paris Food Tour in Le Marais, Paris, France (B)

The rendezvous point for our Paris Food Tour is next to the Temple Metro station. I’m a few minutes early and am happy to soak up the Paris sunshine until our man, carrying an orange umbrella, appears. Our guide’s name, appropriately, is Christophe Boulanger and he comes armed with a bag of Parisian pastries. We nibble on the Chouquettes, sweet, bite-sized choux pastries, while the group assembles before heading off on a mouth-watering Le Marais Food Tour.

We head to nearby café Le Tour du Temple for something the French do best. Coffee and croissants. We introduce ourselves amid the aroma of fresh coffee and warm croissants. There are nine of us. The coffee’s good and strong and the croissants are deliciously buttery, flaky and crisp.

The croissant is thought to have originated in Vienna with the crescent shape a reference to Ottoman flags and victory over a Turkish invasion in 1683. Bakers working all night heard the Turks tunnelling into the city and sounded the alarm. The crescent-shaped croissant is usually made with butter. We learn that not all croissants are created equal. Other shapes exist and some are more likely made with margarine if you want the real deal order Croissant au beurre. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).