I suppose I really luck out. I originally didn't expect to do much except for visiting Champs Elysees on Sunday but since it is only weeks before Christmas, many stores have extended their opening hours to include Sunday shopping.
My route today look me to the Palais-Royale/Lourve area, down to Les Halles, and eventually to Place de la Madeleine. Walking along rue St Honore towards Les Halles, it was interesting to see the change in neighbourhood--how the boutiques gave way to butchers, bakeries, and epiceries. The more I walked towards the 1st arrondisement, the less glamourous the surrounding appears. On my way there, I spotted the bakery of Phillip Gosselin. I recalled reading some high praises for his baguette ancienne so I had to try it out myself. The crust was not as crispy as the one I sampled at Poujouran yesterday but it had a very open crumb in creamy colour. The flavour was great.
Before I knew it, I was smack in the middle of Les Halles with my favourte kitchen supplies stores steps away. Unfortunately, none of these stores are open so I will have to come back next day to do my purchases.
I spent quite a bit of time in Les Halles and Montorgueil in my last trip and really enjoyed the boutique shopping here. As much as I like the department stores, there is something fun and a sense of discovery when shopping in small boutiques. A good number of these boutiques were open today due to the Christmas schedule so I had a great time looking at all the pretty things on offer. 
For midday snack, I had a baba au rhum from the very famous pastry shop Stohrer. Legend has it that this is the birthplace of baba au rhum so of course it is not to be missed. I recall not really enjoying it when I tried it two years ago, thinking it was too boozy for my taste. However, I think my taste has changed since. I ate my baba in front of the St Eustache church and enjoyed every single boozy bite. Perhaps eating it at a cold temperature made it better?
Dusk comes early at this time of the year in Paris and it was very dark when I walked along rue St Honore back torwards Place de la Madeleine. In the opposition direction, stores became more chic and more exclusive until eventually I found myself surrounded by designer boutiques. There was a costumn jewelry store Satelite that really caught my attention. Absolutely everything in that store was beautiful. If you are like me and have a penchant for romantic intricate jewelry, I think you will like this store too.
For me, no trip to Paris is complete without checking out the original Laduree shop on Place de la Madeleine. It was crowded as usual and I lined up to get my order of macarons gerbet and marshmallow. After sampling macarons from a number of prestigious pastry shops around Paris, Laduree is still my first love. I bought a selection of chestnut, rose, pistachio, orange flower, black pepper (!), and dark chocolate. Chestnut is a seasonal flavour but definitely my favourite. Black pepper was just too weird to my liking.
I ended my long day with chocolat chaud at the Fauchon salon de the. It was a nice and relaxing way to wrap up a busy shopping day.
