Meet our Pastor. I wish I could say we have the church thing figured out here, but we don't yet. And boulangeries are a lot easier to find than a solid, Christ-exalting church. So this particular Pastor feeds and nourishes our stomachs more than our souls.
We can walk to this bakery from our little house. And so for something to do, we go often. The kids get to split a pan au chocolat (a deliciously, flaky, croissant with chocolate inside) and we buy two baguettes to bring home. Zachary polishes off his pastry in about one minute and then proceeds to beg for a hunk of baguette. His little feet start swinging and kicking the stroller when the bakery comes into sight. I am NOT kidding!
I think the French standard is one baguette per person per day...for our family that would mean four baguettes. But, we aren't French enough yet to start eating baguettes for breakfast, so I usually only buy two. Miss E recommended this place to us as her favorite boulangerie in all of Hyeres for their baguettes.
The making of baguettes is very regulated (like everything else) in France. They can only be made of flour, yeast, salt and water...absolutely no other ingredients are allowed for it to be called baguette. They also must fit within a size requirement. So what distinguishes one bakery's baguette from someone else's? I'm not sophisticated enough to know, but I've heard its the water. Honestly, I can't say that there is a HUGE difference between Pastor's baguettes and some of the other places we've tried. But if Miss E said it was the best, that's good enough for me.
Regardless, a trip to Pastor is a fun treat. So far, I'm only brave enough to buy the pan au chocolat and baguettes. But I am becoming a regular customer, so I'm hoping to branch out with some of my future purchases. And as a recovering carbo-phobic American, I'm indulging more and more in the wholesome goodness of these baked goods.
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