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French Cookie Lovers Gather at The St Michel Cookie Store

There is a church, a bar/newsstand, a souvenir store and an ATM. A bit further up the main road there, is a bakery, a pharmacy, a small movie theatre and a post office. All these businesses are very quiet, except maybe the bakery around lunchtime—gotta buy a baguette, or two, or three! Their business hours are somewhat erratic and only locals truly master the art of mailing a letter in a timely manner (the post office opens from Tuesday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.), buy Aspirin (the sign on the pharmacy’s main door always claims “back at 4 p.m.!”) and watch a decent movie that isn’t already on DVD. Only the church, presumably, holds a regular Sunday mass… although come to think of it, one priest often manages several town churches so the “Sunday office” could be held on Saturday instead.

This is Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef, a small village like thousands of others in France. Regardless of their population size, some of these towns are just a dot on the map while some are a worthwhile pit stop because they became famous. Évian, for instance, or countless towns where a historical event took place (e.g. Vimy) or where someone famous lived there long enough, like Auvers-sur-Oise with Van Gogh.

Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef is famous for its biscuiterie producing buttery galettes, the original cookie. Now it produces a large range of biscuits sold in supermarkets all over the country and even exported abroad—I can find some of them in Canada.

The thin galette Saint-Michel is always a favourite but you can also buy sablés (buttery cookies made with a crumbly dough), madeleines (spongy palm-size tea cakes), brownies, chocolate-filled crêpes, etc. Common denominators of these yummy treats are butter and sometimes sea salt, and it gives the cookies a pleasant sweet yet lightly salty flavour.

The large and newly revamped “atelier” where you can buy the St Michel brand products plus many related items (metal boxes, bowls, etc.) is always packed. People love cookies, even more so when they are local and cheap. Besides the store, there is a small coffee shop where you can buy a drink and super fancy cakes made with various cookies.

This buttery taste and the retro packaging remind me of my childhood… and boy, do they taste good!

Sign when you enter Saint-Michel
Sign when you enter Saint-Michel
Saint-Michel cookies bag
Saint-Michel cookies bag
Painting of the original store
Painting of the original store
Behind the store's window
Behind the store’s window
Saint-Michel brownies
Saint-Michel brownies
Giant "galette" to share
Giant “galette” to share
Bonne-Maman brand cookies
Bonne-Maman brand cookies
Bonne-Maman crêpes
Bonne-Maman crêpes
Petit-Beurre cookies
Petit-Beurre cookies
Cookie boxes
Cookie boxes
Main street from the store
Main street from the store
Old-fashioned branded bowls
Old-fashioned branded bowls
Giant madeleine to share
Giant madeleine to share
Inside the store
Inside the store
Bonne-Maman brand cookies
Bonne-Maman brand cookies
Mark eating a madeleine
Mark eating a madeleine
Madeleine baking pan
Madeleine baking pan
Madeleine, fresh out of the oven
Madeleine, fresh out of the oven
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Fancy cakes in the coffee shop
Coffee and small cookie
Coffee and small cookie
Coffee and small cookie
Coffee and small cookie
Coffee and small cookie
Coffee and small cookie
Black coffee
Black coffee
In the coffee shop
In the coffee shop
Mark eating the cookies we bought
Mark eating the cookies we bought
Mark eating the cookies we bought
Mark eating the cookies we bought
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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