Miss Mañon Baking Class

Trip to Paris . May 7, 2026

TODAY will be all about food. I had the most wonderful experience this morning in a baking class at Miss Mañon Bakery here in Paris. Before the class, we sat at the little tables in the bakery and each of us were served a coffee of our choice and a whole basket on morning pastries.

Mia, our teacher, guided us to the back of the bakery and down two very narrow long stairways into the basement, which is where all the bread baking is done. Pristine white tiles cover the walls and in huge containers full of dough, sit on flowered tables to be made into baguettes and croissants. The ovens are already filled with bread, and it smells heavenly. Then Mia she took us up one flight of stairs, which was the second bakery, and this is where all the pastries and cakes are made. Huge refrigerators line the walls where they keep cakes that will be delivered to other bakeries. It was really amazing to see the behind the scenes of this operation. The French people eat 3 million baguettes every five minutes. Miss Manon sells 2000 baguettes every day.

All throughout this tour, Mia gave us historical facts such as the origin of the croissant. It was originally a pastry made in Vienna and since Marie Antoinette was Viennese, she wanted something that reminded her of Vienna. The original croissant from Vienna was made with lard which wasn’t very tasty, so the French baker made it with butter, which is how it’s made today. France gets most of its butter and milk from Normandy, which apparently has the best grass for the animals. Butter is a gourmet food here. You can get it plain, salted, with herbs or truffles… there are dozens of flavored butters. Our group made croissants and baguettes which were baked right away so that we could take them home with us. This was one of the best and most delicious experiences I’ve ever had in France.

As I’m writing this, my bag of breads and pastries is sitting on the kitchen counter in my kitchen in the Airbnb, making the whole apartment smell like a bakery. I’m sure there will be sweet dreams tonight.