Fodor's Expert Review Pierre Hermé

Pierre Hermé might just be Paris's most renowned pâtissier, and this shop has the peerless cakes and macarons, and many chocolate delights (classic varieties, like the dark-chocolate and orange-rind batons, are perennial favorites). It sells a wonderful, zesty lemon pound cake preboxed and dense enough to survive the trip home—if you can resist eating it. There are several small cafés in St-Germain-des-Prés (and around the city) that feature his creations, one just across from this original boutique, at 61 rue Bonaparte. Other locations include 126 boulevard St-Germain, 43 rue St-Placide, and 53–57 rue de Grenelle, in the quiet, contemporary Beaupassage.