Our second day in Paris began by exploring the enchanting Deyrolle, a shop and cabinet of curiosities open to the public, a reference in the field of taxidermy, entomology and natural sciences, whose vocation is to show the beauty of Nature. The entrance to the shop is small and unassuming, yet when visitors step inside, they are met with a magical world full of majestic animals, it felt like being transported to Narnia. (At Deyrolle, with only a few exceptions, no animal was killed to be mounted: the non-domestic species come from zoos, parks, where they died of old age or illness. They are traceable, and protected species are held and delivered in accordance with the Washington Convention.)
Photos are strictly prohibited in the shop, so all these images came from the internet. Most of the specimens are for sale, all cost a very pretty penny. Some of the specimens are also available for rent, if you ever find yourself in the need of a tiger or a giraffe for an evening... which I actually totally have, if only I lived closer to this one-of-a-kind shop.
At the back of the shop on the second floor, yes, there are multiple floors, is the entomological room, which was one of my favorites. The drawers of the entomology room are filled with colorful butterflies, iridescent beetles, and other fascinating and rare insects. As with all the other specimens in the shop, these are all for sale as well, you can even design your own bell jar with several different types of insects. Again, if only I lived closer!
There was the most charming floral shop next door to Deyrolle, Vienne had a lovely time pretending to arrange flowers and take orders while we waited for our Uber to arrive and take us to a very special place for lunch...
Bethy had made reservations at LADUREE!!!! Be still my heart, it's hard to describe the love I have for this place. We got special birthday treats at the New York location when I was there for my 30th birthday, and I have had several macarons from Laudree cart in the Paris airport, but I had never had the pleasure of going to the actual Paris location, let alone having a sit down meal there! Dreams came true this day.
Even the gorgeous, colorful menus bring me so much joy.
After we checked in, we were lead upstairs, away from the noise and chaos of the shop. We were shown through several rooms, each one elegant and stunning. The room where we were seated was probably my favorite, it was so feminine, light and airy. We were also the only ones seated in our room for the majority of our meal, the silence was just as delicious as our meal.
Their rich, decadent hot chocolate was a must.
I ordered the monte cristo pinwheels. They were so delicious.
After we had finished our lunch, we made our way back down to the shop to join the large crowd of fellow Laudree fans to grab some treats for the road.
So many sugary delights to choose from! It was hard to make a decision when I really wanted at least one of each!
In the end I ended up with three boxes of sugared almonds, I pretty much just wanted the boxes for decorations, the almonds were an added bonus. And a box of assorted macarons. My all time favorite Laudree macaron is their strawberry candy, it's filled with a marshmallow filling and coated with sugar, it's heaven. Also, their packaging is perfection.
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