''Poilâne'', the best bakery in Paris

Thanks to the Poilâne family, the traditional French sourdough bread has stood the test of time. After World War II, the white baguette (which was brought to France from Austria in the 19th century) became more and more popular and ousted the French sourdough bread. Lionel Poilâne, son of a baker, resisted the trend of baking baguettes and he kept baking sourdough bread according to old French traditions. Nowadays, the bread is sold under the name Miche Poilâne. The Poilâne empire has three stores in Paris, two stores in London and its bread is sold in 1500 stores and served in 1000 restaurants in e.g. Brussels and Tokyo. American celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Johnny Depp order bread from Poilâne regularly.   

In 2002, Lionel Poilâne and his wife died tragically in a helicopter accident. Their daughter Apollonia, at that time only eighteen years old, took over the business and expanded the Poilâne empire while studying economics at the presitigious Harvard University in Boston, USA. She flew often between Boston and Paris in order to do so.

Besides the Miche Poilâne bread, you can now buy pastries, cookies, marmelade and cutlery at the stores.
If you ask me, going to the Poilâne bakery and eating Miche Poilâne bread is an absolute must if you are in Paris!

Practical information
Address

38 rue Debelleyme, Paris 75003 (3^rd)
8 Rue du Cherche-Midi, Paris 75006 (6^th)
49 Boulevard de Grenelle, Paris 75015 (15^th) 

Arrondissement
3^rd , 6^th and 15^th   
Price

€ 4.45 for half a Miche Poilâne bread (1 kilo), which is enough for two people for two days.  

Website

http://www.poilane.com/index.php
Metro
The nearest metro stations are Filles du Calvaire (3^rd), Saint-Sulpice and Sèvres-Babylone (6^th) or Dupleix  (15^th) .