Laduree, for real

Until today my experiences at Laduree have been via their website. I have fantasized, and rehearsed my trip, varying the menu with my whims and the weather. Perusing their menu has been the late night occupation which has gotten me through many subzero nights in the month of January. Shivering, bundling, lost gloves, frostbitten nose, tinkering with the garage door opener were all tolerated as I reminded myself the day would come when I would sit at a marble topped table in Laduree and drink tea surrounded by elegant, irresistible french pastries. Proof that dreams come true is everywhere. We can get on planes and fly across the ocean, taking a homeopathic remedy to avoid jet lag, and find yourself sitting in Laduree eating cakes which melt in your mouth and are even more exquisite than you imagined. So often the tempting array of pastries in the display case turn out to be plastic and tasteless. This was NOT our experience today. The delicate flavour of rose cream opened our hearts as the raspberries sitting between layers of macaroon tickled our fancy. I was fortunate in that I was not at Laduree alone, and doomed to over-indulgence and subsequent discomfort. I was accompanied by my daughter and her boyfriend who generously agreed to help with the consumption of the lovely creations offered at Laduree. One is rarely enough, but two is definitely too much. We ordered 4 selections to split and the artichoke soup to start us off, preparing our stomachs for the sugar and fat.

Excellent choice as it turned out that the soup comes with lovely hard rolls and the best butter. The Jasmine tea was delicate and hot. Daughter had the hot chocolate with Chantilly cream. Boyfriend went for the cafe macciato followed much later by a delicate tisane of lime blossoms. We had planned to take numerous photos until we were standing in line next to a notice prohibiting photos entirely. this left us with few options including no photos and illegal, stealth photos. We chose the latter rather than the former, and have no regrets. As the afternoon progressed it became obvious that we needed to move around a bit. Making our way to Hyde Park as the light faded, our last glimpse of Laduree at Harrod's was after the lights outlining the building began twinkling. In arguably better than my dream, definitely worth repeating. After all, this is only the second day of my holiday!