The plan was to attend the Vintage Salon in the heart of the Marais this Sunday afternoon, but we never got there because we were detained at the crêperie.  We had to line up for half an hour to get into the Breizh Café.  I hate queuing, so while Monique held our place and chatted with a quartet from Queens, I walked up the road and snapped a few shots.

We finally got a table and the atmosphere was jolly.  We both ordered a ham, cheese, egg and artichoke buckwheat crêpe.  I had a small bowl of cider, Monique a small green salad.  Hard to believe that just the day before I was flat out bed-ridden and drugged up on codeine while suffering a very achy bout of 24-hour flu.  But come Sunday I felt fine.

There are two different kinds of crêpe – sweet and savoury.  The savoury ones, called galettes, are made from buckwheat flour called sarrasin.  In the case of the Breizh Café (the name Breizh, incidentally, means Brittany in Breton, the indigenous Celtic language), the secret of its success is the authenticity of their products.  All products, including the butter, are transported from the French region of Brittany, the home of galettes and crepes, cider, sea-salt caramels and a dozen other delights.

Monique’s dessert crêpe was pear and chocolate, mine was caramelized apple drizzled with salted caramel.  The both were topped with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and a spoonful of whipped cream. And here’s another reason for the financial success of the Breizh café – the prices!   As the owner made the rounds talking to people in English and French, a big smile on his face, I said to my dining companion – “Y’know why that man is smiling?  Because he’s making a killing.  He’s laughing all the way to the bank!”  Never have I seen prices so high for such simple products.  My dessert crêpe alone cost 10 euros 50, as did the savoury crêpe.  Clearly, the Breizh café is a once-a-year event, at least for my pocketbook it is.  But you should go at least once.  Because the service is good, the food and cider exemplary and there’s a fun ambiance. (note – there are cheaper, simpler options on the menu.)

Leaving the restaurant, we went to the shop next door where you can buy the products trucked in from Brittany – gorgeous butter, cider, cheese, jams, etc. They are all high quality…and expensive.