Not sure how wise it was to have thick delicious hot chocolate PLUS a mille-feuille à la vanille Bourbon (vanilla slice) after two soft-boiled eggs with brioche toast at Angelina’s in rue de Rivoli this morning. I didn’t add any fresh cream to the chocolate though.
Perhaps I should have stuck to the basic breakfast of hot beverage (I could have sensibly chosen tea), mini pâtisseries, toast and jam that I had last time. But I felt duty bound to accompany my 22-year old cousin from Australia who’s living and working in London at the moment and assuage her guilt feelings about eating something so sweet for breakfast. She had the same except for a mouth-melting all-chocolate concoction called Choc-Africain (dense chocolate cake, rich chocolate mousse, 100% African dark chocolate glaze) instead of the (plain) mille-feuille which made me feel slightly more virtuous.
Mille-feuille is my favourite French pâtisserie and they’re particularly good at Angelina’s. The décor is pure 1900s and very popular with tourists, though I did see a few French businessmen just finishing breakfast when we arrived. It was founded in 1903 by Austrian confectioner Antoine Rumpelmayer and named after his daughter-in-law. It’s a wonderful afternoon tea spot as well. There’s often a queue but it usually goes quite fast. You can sit in their comfortable armchairs and be served by waitresses in black dresses and little white lace aprons and imagine Proust and Coco Chanel walking by and greeting their friends. There’s also a shop where you can buy all the goodies.
And don’t forget to check out the ladies and gents upstairs!
Jean Michel and I were pleasantly surprised to discover a little alfresco version of Angelina’s at the Petit Trianon in the gardens of Versailles last summer – a just reward for our hours of cycling! I’ve learnt since that there are others in the Louvre Museum, the Luxembourg Museum, the Galeries Lafayette, the Palais des Congrès and the Jardin d’Acclimatation.
http://www.angelina-paris.fr/en/
Angelina 226 rue de Rivoli Open every day from 7.30 am till 7pm Open weekend from 8.30 am till 7pm Breakfast time Everyday until 11 :30 a.m.Parisian breakfast 20 euro Tea, coffee or Angelina hot chocolate Fresh juice – Orange, grapefruit or lemon Mini viennese pastries – Croissant, pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins Moisan organic bread roll with butter, Angelina honey & jam
Angelina breakfast 32 euro Tea, coffee or Angelina hot chocolate Fresh juice – Orange, grapefruit or lemon Mini viennese pastries – Croissant, pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins Moisan organic bread roll with butter, Angelina honey & jam Seasonal fresh fruit salad
