Sunday tea and macarons

Carette is a beautiful art deco salon de thé that’s been at Place du Trocadero for over 80 years. But this I didn’t know until Carol told me when we were sitting at the new Marais location. Whereas the original establishment is riche et royale, where we were perched was quite casual; the perfect spot from which to watch the world sashay by. (And sashay they did, these incorrigible Frenchies.)

So, a Sunday tea date. What might accompany my pot of thé de menthe?

I stole a look inside to let the taste buds start percolating. Strawberry and rhubarb tart with these naughty-looking crunchy bits?

Raspberry gateau? A hedonistic slice of rich, dark chocolate cake?

I’ve found I like things that begin with C. And so I got the classic cherry clafoutis (I even made this lovely custardy dessert once).



Carol ordered un chocolat. Trop modest, I thought, until I saw what she’d been up to earlier in the day.

All around us, people were indulging in plates of vibrantly-colored macarons.

Pistachio, cassis, café, lemon, vanilla, raspberry, rose…

As soon as Carol saw the colors, there was no going back. We went inside so she could buy a box.

A beautiful hot pink box! Filled with macarons!

I was very jealous, and contented myself with admiring the macaron displays.


(And plotting my return to get a box myself.)