Brunch in Montmartre at Le Coquelicot

Guest Blogger Nichole Robertson (of Little Brown Pen fame) discovers one of our favorite bakeries in Montmartre. Make sure to come early to snag one of the outside tables, and enjoy Paris people watching at its best.

photo courtesy of Meg Zimbeck

On Saturday, we braved the Amelie obsessed tourists on Rue de Abbesses in Montmartre to visit Coquelicot–a sweet little bakery recommended by Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate and Zucchini. I adore Clotilde’s blog and books, and her Paris picks never let me down. She raved about the baguettes at Coquelicot, and her blessing coupled with a glimpse of their charming website, was all we needed to pen a visit into our schedule.

The first thing we noticed was that we were not the only ones with hot, crusty Coquelicot baguettes on the brain. The line exemplified human impatience, and was so long it spilled into the street and around the corner. Drats! But a few moments of observation revealed that the second door was for those interested in dining in, and that would be us. We approached the hostess expecting to be turned away due to a lack of tables or our unobscured camera (rookie mistake), but she smiled and pointed to a teeny table a few feet away. Score!

It was a challenge to focus on the menu with so many delicious things whizzing by us at warp speed. Was that brioche steaming? Did that guy really just tuck 12 baguettes under his arm? Holy crap … look at the size of those latte bowls!

photo courtesy of Meg Zimbeck

The latte bowls were the star of our pre-breakfast conversation. So big you could barely wrap your hands around them, and so full of delicious cafe au lait that even the most sleep deprived, jet lagged, coffee addict would emerge from the experience wide-eyed and wired.

Lucky for the latte bowls, their moment in the limelight lasted for a full five minutes before the baguettes, brioche and accoutrements in the form of homemade jam and honey stole the spotlight. Our trays overflowed with fresh, perfect bread (thanks, Clotilde!), three flavors of homemade jam–cassis, raspberry and peach–and honey from Provence. I’m always torn between sweet and savory bread, so I enjoyed the first few bites of the baguette with salted butter. But after just one taste of the Cassis jam, I sided with the sweet team for the remainder of the meal.

The bread wasn’t the only treat at Coquelicot. Evan and I treated anyone who watched us to a hilarious scene of two bread and coffee junkies getting the best fix of their lives.

Coquelicot
24, Rue des Abbesses 75018
+33 (0)1.46.06.18.77
Métro: Abbesses, Pigalle

Nichole Robertson is a writer who lives in New Jersey and visits Paris as often as she can. She writes about her daily joie de vivre on her blog, Little Brown Pen.

Edited by Tory Hoen for the HiP Paris Blog. Photo of croissant and cappuccino courtesy of: http://11870.com/pro/coquelicot-des-abbesses/media Need  a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.