Macarons — Not to be confused with anything you can get in McDonalds.

In case I haven’t already mentioned, I am just back from a week’s holiday in Paris. Some people call it the City of Love, but I will evermore consider it to be the City of Extravagance. In Paris, the mantra seems to be; why built an ordinary wall when you can make it into a work of art? Take the Louvre, for example. You could spend all day wandering around outside being awed by the architecture, before you ever begin to explore the month’s worth of sculptures and paintings inside.

Parisian extravagance doesn’t stop with its buildings, however. For an even more outlandish example, one need look no further than its confectionary, or, to me more presice — the macaron. A macaron, according to Wikipedia, is a “round meringue-like dome with a flat base… made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar”. Doesn’t sound like these babies would cost too much, right? Wrong — unless you consider €10.80 for a box of eight to be a bargain, which Parisians seem to. (Incidentally, these macarons are about the size of a bicycle bell, if even). So basically, a macaron is a meringue with a sweet, gooey filling of whatever flavour you fancy. The place to get them is a bakery called Ladurée, which is just around the corner from le Jardin de Tuileries and the French version of the Washington Monument. You’ll know it when you see the queue outside! It’s an exciting process, as they have as many flavours for their macarons that you could ever imagine, so picking your eight (or, if you feel like parting with €30, eighteen!) is pretty darn fun.

Macarons were the snack of choice of Marie Antoinette, no less (now there’s an endorsement!), so I for one was certainly expecting the taste of heaven when I bit into one! My first pick was vanilla, and I must say, it tasted exactly my Summer Drink of ‘08, the Starbuck’s Vanilla Bean Frap. Divine. Round two! ‘Menthe’. Mm.. Minty! Like a mint Cornetto, perhaps? Or a Mint Starbuck’s Frap? No. Not quite. Try a meringue filled with Colgate toothpaste. In other words, vom. Quite the disappointment, as I’m sure you can imagine! Maybe Marie Antoinette enjoyed the taste of toothpaste, who knows? And hey, I’m nothing if not a fan of dental hygiene, but a Colgate-filled meringue? Too much.

So, I have yet to finish these apparently incredibly macarons. So far, I am not overly impressed, but if my opinion has changed for the better by this time tomorrow, I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted. As for the present, however, I think I’ll just stick to eating cake..