Boulangerie de la Martiniere
Emmental, Hazelnut, Raisin Bread
Raspberry Clafoutis
Canele de Bordeaux
Almond Croissant
Praline Braided Croissant
Having twice passed the bakery in search of parking for nearby Boulangerie Saint Vincent, it was with boxed bites left over from earlier that I entered Boulangerie de la Martiniere, and once again greeted to a large selection of unique items alongside many traditional pastries, one simply couldn’t help but opt to order a few things for the sake of side-by-side comparison, the results unfortunately showing the former to far outperform the later in every single regard.
Larger and more fancifully adorned than many other boulangeries found throughout the city of Lyon, it was to rather curt responses that questions in broken French were tolerated from the two-person female staff despite the fact that the shop remained otherwise empty throughout the five minutes that options were perused, but eventually trading 11.40€ for a total of five items it was back to the street that items were taken for tasting, a trio of police officers entering to a warm “Bonjour” and smiles I’d never seen just as I closed the door.
Admittedly a bit skeptical based on the appearance of both the Canele ordered and some of the pizzas seen in the case it was into a veritable sponge with the center no different from the exterior that teeth were first plunged and immediately discarding the rest to a nearby waste receptacle the Almond Croissant unfortunately proved an even more unmitigated disaster, the interior literally flooded with an artificial liquid goo that dripped down my hand onto the pavement – a texture so soggy that even the nearby pigeons would have been remorseful to have taken a bite.
Thankful that leftovers from Saint Vincent were in-hand to cleanse my memory of some of the worst pastries tasted on either side of the Atlantic, it was briefly that the savory roll of cheese, nuts, and raisins served to right the otherwise sinking ship, but turning back to items more sweet the clafoutis unfortunately presented with the overly-eggy base clearly separated from the raspberry studded top-layer while the braided praline viennoiserie suffered similarly to the more commonly shaped almond iteration, a pair of bites taken before the rest was left to waste.
