Méert pastry shop in Lille

Steve and I arrived in Lille France yesterday to visit niece Christina and her family for the next few days.  I had seen and heard a number of "must visit" comments about Méert, the well known Lillois patisserie, and it was one of the first stops on our hit list.

It turns out the shop is literally around the corner from Glen and Christina's apartment, so once we were up and about and had enjoyed our delicious morning coffee compliments of G&Cs Nespresso machine (with frother I might add!), we headed out the door.

As is true of pretty much all pastry shops in France, the window displays are mouth watering.  Méert's is no exception, although I won't even begin to try and tell you the names of all this stuff!

The viennoiserie case held the classics - brioche, palmier, chausson aux pommes, croissant, pain au chocolat and more.

Christina, Steve and I each sampled a treat and were more than content. We hope to return and experience the salon de thé portion of the shop - we're shooting for Sunday brunch with the MacDs (with more photos to come!).

As an end note, here's a pleasant little travel story - as we were standing in line at the shop, a Lillois woman entered and started chatting with us, giving me a much needed chance to practice my French. Of course, Steve was throwing in some Italian with which she seemed quite delighted.  She spoke English as well, telling us of her travels to the USA in the past - California, TX/LA and New York. She confirmed that our dining out choice for tomorrow night was excellent and gave Christina more tips about places to visit and/or eat. She and I exchanged contact info, and she even suggested we connect via Skype or FaceTime periodically so I could practice my French.  Now isn't that interesting?!

You never know the paths that might cross in life, eh?