One of my favourite places in the world is the area surrounding a little village nestled up in the French Alps: Guillestre. I’ve described Guillestre itself as “nothing particularly special” before — it’s a quiet little village with not that much to do — but it just happens to be smack dab in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
“Nothing particularly special”.
Of course, the most important thing about visiting France is finding the best pastries. I’m particularly fond of the pain au chocolat, and Guillestre (like any French village) has multiple options to choose from.
However. I’m trying to eat a healthier diet, so pains au chocolat must be earned through walks and bike rides — really putting the pain in pain au chocolat. Since they must be earned, I don’t want to waste my time with anything but the best pain au chocolat the village has to offer!
While I visit Guillestre often enough to know that I have a favourite, I don’t visit often enough to actually remember which boulangerie creates the perfect pain au chocolat. So, last time I visited, I made a point to try them all and actually pay attention to where the best one came from.
I know. The sacrifices I make.
The Contenders
Boulangerie #1: La Guillestrine
This place couldn’t be more stereotypically French if it tried. It’s on the high street, right next to the village church and a little flower shop. It seems like the most “famous” boulangerie of the village, and frequently has queues out the door.
It’s particularly well known for the self-titled “Guillestrine”, a thick, buttery pastry with a layer of jam in the middle. It’s delicious.
But that’s not why we’re here! We’re here for the pains au chocolat! You have to get up pretty early to score them — if you turn up at 10am, it’s likely they’ll have sold out for the day.
La Guillestrine’s pain au chocolat was decently flaky, if a little dry — it could have done with a bit more butter, in my opinion. It was a bit oily, but not excessively so.
Overall, pretty decent, but not amazing.
Boulangerie #2: La Boulangerie Artisanale
La Boulangerie Artisanale is situated underneath a supermarket car park and right next to a petrol station — quite a different vibe to the previous contender. It’s decently popular, but I never saw queues quite like those coming out of La Guillestrine.
Bonus points to them: their van has this delightful 50’s style painting on the side of it featuring the very pastry I’m after!
La Boulangerie Artisanale’s pain au chocolat was significantly more flaky and buttery than La Guillestrine’s, and visibly crispy.
Look at that ✨lamination✨!
I was worried that the crispiness wouldn’t work, but I was completely wrong — this pain au chocolat is fantastic.
Boulangerie #3: La Boulangerie
Unfortunately, this one has recently gone out of business. Maybe three boulangeries within 700 metres of each other in a tiny village isn’t sustainable, but I’m not an expert in boulangerie economics.
BONUS BOULANGERIE: La Galette de Vauban
A fight between two boulangeries isn’t very interesting, so I ventured to the next village along: Mont-Dauphin. There are multiple options here too, but there’s a big hill back up to Guillestre and climbing it gets harder with each pain au chocolat I eat. For sanity’s sake, I picked the one I’ve been to multiple times before: La Galette de Vauban.
La Galette de Vauban’s pain au chocolat was flaky and crispy, but less buttery than the one from La Boulangerie Artisanale. It’s a pretty great pain au chocolat!
A little less buttery, but still with great lamination.
The Results
In last place, we have La Guillestrine (boulangerie #1). I was a little disappointed given this location’s reputation, and even went back a couple of times to make sure they weren’t just having a bad day. It’s not that bad of a pain au chocolat, but look how flat it is compared to the others! Their self-titled “guillestrine”, though, is to die for.
Compared to the others, it looks a little bit… flat.
In second place, we have La Galette de Vauban (the bonus boulangerie). Crispy, flaky, and great lamination. What’s not to love?
A great pain au chocolat. It didn’t win, but it was close!
And finally, our winner: La Boulangerie Artisanale (boulangerie #2). Crispy, flaky, and great lamination just like our second place, but it’s even butterier. My life expectancy drops with each one I eat — partly due to having to queue in a supermarket car park next to a petrol station, I’m sure — but it’s so worth it.
Our well-deserved winner, life expectancy be damned.
I think it might be time to book some flights.