Pain d’Epi and France trip!

Hey everyone! I’m back after a 3 week-long trip to Jersey and Europe! We took baby on her first international trip to France, where we stayed for 2 weeks! I’m not going to lie, I was really nervous initially traveling with a 4 month old, but she was a champ! We spent a week in Paris and 2 days in Dijon. Paris was amazing. I had never been and now I want to go back every year! The food there was amazing, especially the bread, butter and pastries.  I pretty much ate carbs the entire trip, which was ok since we were walking an average of 10 miles per day! 

We stayed in an Airbnb in the 2nd arrondisement near Chatelet Les Halles and it was perfect! The place was $64 a night and was located about a 5 minute walk from two metro stops. (Here is the place if you’re interested). The reason we chose an Airbnb is because we wanted a washer so that we could pack light. The baby barfs/pees/poops on her stuff at least every other day, so we figured it’s a good idea to stay in a place with a washer. We also learned that most places in Paris don’t have dryers. Our host had a heated drying rack that we used to dry off our clothes. We ended up washing our clothes like 4 times – so it came in handy!  In addition, the location of the apartment couldn’t have been any better! It was a 15 minute walk to the Louvre, 10 minutes from Centre Pompidou, and there were tons of cafes, restaurants and patisseries along the street (Rue Montorgueil). Even if you end up staying elsewhere, I highly suggest going for a stroll down the street.

Getting around Paris was pretty easy! We got the Costco Paris Pass which included an unlimited Metro/RER pass for 3 or 6 days. The Metro definitely is not stroller friendly. We actually didn’t even bring our stroller since I read how bad it was on other blogs. Unfortunately, our bodies were not ready for a 17 pound baby strapped to it for almost 8 hours a day. After 3 days of achy backs and hips we were desperate for some relief! We saw lots of parents with the Yoyo stroller and my husband quickly wanted one. Sadly the price tag was quite steep ($495!)  so we opted for the GB Pockit stroller which was half the price. The Yoyo is definitely sturdy and has more shock absorption compared to the GB Pockit. I think if we put the baby in the GB Pockit stroller on some streets her brain would have turned into a milkshake due to all the cobblestones! However, the GB Pockit stroller folds up and opens up quickly with little to no effort. Also, it folds up really small, making it great for crowded trains. Another quick tip is to bring a diaper changing mat- we had a very hard time finding changing tables and ended up changing her diaper on benches half the time.

If you’ve followed me on Instagram, you know I ate my way through entire city of Paris. Some dessert places I highly recommend are the Michel Cluizel chocolate shop, L’elcair de Genie, Odette, Michalak, and Pierre Herme. All of these places were absolutely AMAZING – especially the Michel Cluizel chocolates and Pierre Herme macarons. As for vegetarian meals – we loved our meal at Le Potager du Marais which specializes in vegetarian French food. The vegetable tart was the best dish we had there. It had the most amazing flaky crust! We also had quick meal at Maison Sen. They had a delicious tofu banh mi and veggie spring rolls. Another place we hit up due to all the hype around it was Las du Fallafel – and it was worth it! The falafel was 6 euros and super filling! Per a friend’s suggestion we went to La Chapelle, Paris’s Little India, and ate dosas at Krishna Bhavan. The chutneys that came with the dosa were unbelievable. I finished all 3 chutneys and even ate them just on their own! Our last meal is France at Ippudo is still ingrained in my memory. We initially ordered veggie ramen and one veggie bun. The bun blew my mind- soft tender buns aka bao with crunchy tempura eggplant, iceberg lettuce and a sweet/spicy sauce. We ended up getting 2 more! Luckily they are opening up a restaurant in the Bay area so we can get our fill in back home. FYI- All of the places I mentioned were kid/baby friendly! Everyone was so accommodating to our stroller and/or baby. Also no one even blinked an eye when I breastfed our baby at any of the restaurants.

On to the good stuff! The best part about France is their bread and butter. Rhut and I would share one baguette every morning and one every evening. I even memorized how to order it in French – Un baguette cereale avec beurre, merci. Baguette cereale is a seeded baguette and they are my FAVORITE! Now that I’m back home I kinda miss them! A friend I met through MasterChef recently posted a recipe for pain d’epi  and I was inspired to make my own! I changed the flour and added sesame seeds, but the baguette turned out amazing! I used bread flour since it’s high in protein which means I’ll get more gluten leading to more air bubbles/pockets in my bread. Plus I like my bread extra chewy! It as so easy and worth giving it a try!

French Seeded Baguette

---

• Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: three 12 inch pain d'epi baguettes 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 cup lukewarm water (90–110 F)
• 1 tsp active yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 1/4 cup unbleached bread flour
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes.
2. Add salt and flour a 1/2 cup at a time, stirring with a fork in between additions. Once all the flour has been added, knead for 15 minutes on a floured surface. Place dough in a oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a linen cloth and place in a warm place. Let the dough proof for 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size. Fold in longer sides towards the middle like and envelope. Then fold shorter sides towards the middle. Place dough back in vegetable oil-rubbed mixing bowl covered in a cloth or plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat oven to 475 F . Place a baking pan filled with water on the bottom rack. Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper and cover with flour. Set aside
4. On a floured surface, cut dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll the dough out into a 12 inch long rolls and place on floured parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cover and let the dough rest for 45 minutes.
5. Using kitchen shears, cut the dough at 45 degree angle every 2 inches, turning each leaf to the right than left.
6. Brush the roll with egg white and sprinkle on sesame seeds. Press the sesame seeds on gently. Bake until brown and bread sounds hollow when you knock on it. About 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Pate Smith

• Prep Time: 3 hours
• Cook Time: 30 minutes

Recipe Card powered by