Eric Keyser may be the unfriendliest bakery we encoutered in Paris, but it’s still the one I returned to the most. As someone who never considers anything without chocolate to be dessert (and certainly anything with fruit), I was completely won over by the raspberry financier. Truly exceptional and I went back for them a few more times. Their breads and pastries never missed the mark and it’s hard to go wrong here with anything you pick, plus there are enough options to keep things novel day after day.

This was our nod to Paris the way it's portrayed in the movies. Every morning I would wake up at 6:45am, get dressed, and walk around the corner to Eric Kayser as they opened at 7:00am.

I would be 4 fresh baked croissants, plus whatever else looked good that morning, and I took it back to our Air B 'n' B for breakfast with my wife.

The croissants were as light as air, and Eric's other offerings were just as good.

Can't wait to come back

So the people are very nice but I feel misled. I should have called the bakery ahead of time. After spending time searching on line and researching this chain my understanding was they all carried gluten free. They don't. I get that they have gluten everywhere but why on earth they could not wrap the bread and delivery it to every location or have a few separate items really left me with few options. We went and got gelato. It has been a struggle to find a gluten free bakery near any tourist location. I, not sure why. I have two small children and can't go all over the place with them. The three of us all all celiacs and we just want to pick up some gluten free bread and croissants.

E.K. is bright and cheerful inside, and has chairs to sit on as you enjoy your coffee and baked goodies. When we were there, on a workday morning, the locals were regularly dropping in for their morning pastry fix. That's a tipoff that this is a great bakery.

I used my terrible French to order; i think it would've been a bad idea to try English on these guys. Not that they're visibly hostile; just more like, their morning rush is coming and they don't have time to fuss over a monolingual foreigner. But i simply said "Je voudrais" and pointed at what i wanted, and that worked well enough.

It was worth the effort. Croissants and pastries to die for. Or to live for. Or to come back for, again and again.

We rented an apartment just a couple blocks away from this bakery and often stopped in for a light breakfast or sandwiches in the evening for dinner. They have a nice variety of breads, croissants and other things to choose from in addition to macaroons, sweet treats, and pre-made sandwiches. The prices are reasonable and their regular and chocolate croissants are excellent.