Je Vais Prendre un Pain au Chocolat

There are a few French words, sentences, and phrases that I will not soon forget.  Of course, I'll never forget "merci," "bonsoir," or "d'accord."  I use these words daily or hourly.  In addition to these, there are a few phrases that I use more than I anticipated.

pain au chocolat a la Regis Colin

Perhaps most importantly, "je vais prendre un pain au chocolat" will always be filed away in my brain under important sentences.  "I'll take a pain au chocolat."  For the next six months, I will be on the hunt for my favorite pain au chocolat in Paris.

Thus far, I have tried the offerings at Paul, Eric Kayser, and Régis Colin.  A significant amount of my time is spent around the 2nd arrondissement and all three of these boulangeries can be found there.  Paul is an international chain that I had tried once or twice in the USA.  The quality at Parisian Paul locations is superior and the prices lower.  It's still a chain, but a respectable one for the price.  Eric Kayser is a pretty well-known international chain, too.  Something about the ambiance feels vaguely more Parisian and I find the proportions and distribution of dough-to-chocolate superior to Paul.  

galettes des rois 

As of now, Régis Colin takes the prize for my favorite croissant dough.  The store-front on Rue de Montmartre is small with an automatic door, and interesting form of self-check-out.  The lady behind the counter was very helpful and efficient without being rude.  It seems that Colin is known for his Galette des Rois, which I suppose I ought to try before the month is up.  His croissant dough is to die for.  It is certainly one of those delicacies that one doesn't want to come to an end.  At all three of these establishments croissant are right around 1€ and pain au chocolat 20 cents more, or so.  So remind me why they cost triple that in the US?   

The search will certainly continue and I welcome your suggestions of bakeries to try.  Hopefully soon I will have a chance to explore the viennoiserie that Montmartre has to offer.