Paris S'eveille: Monsieur Arnaud

I went a not very direct (at least at the beginning) route down to Jiyugaoka by bicycle. First I went to Cuoca, got some 7.5 cm brioche forms (I may finally have enough, although maybe not for cheesecake pie tartlets, which might require 18), some carob powder (I'm curious abut carob brownies), and cacao mass (usually I substitute powder in brownies without replacing the missing fat and like the results, but my fudge brownies are completely unfudgie, at least until I start substituting in almond powder for flour; in short, I'm not good about following recipes and it's not because I know better).

Then I went to Paris S'éveille to have great cake, which I was successful at. I got the Monsieur Arnaud for 650 yen + 8% tax and hot Choco a l'Orange for 760 yen + 8%. The drink was good, although not necessary (actually, buying a drink might have been necessary to eat in and they are all about the same level of priciness). The cake is chocolate cream on top of and between probably milk chocolate above a hazelnut base. The bottom of he base is definitely baked cake (with hazelnut power), then the middle of the base has large pieces of nuts, but there was another praline layer on top that probably has a specific technical name, but I don't know enough, even if I throw out terms sometimes when someone provides them in a description. This great cake has some similarities to recent chocolate cakes from other great stores that I referred to as almost chocolate bar like maybe, but this one pushed back the balance someone toward cake and was better for it, I think.


Having had great cake, I decided to visit a shop Joshi+ posted on that I rightly had low expectations of. I should really stay away from these homemade style shops. This one was Kabocha, which does this with kabocha, which is the standard Japanese pumpkin equivalent. Basically, they do pie-like tarts. I tried the Kabocha Chibust, apparently, although I thought the name listed was Caramel Pumpkin, but it doesn't really matter. I was definitely okay, but not enough to get me back.

Being completely greedy today for some reason, I stopped at Fraoula, where I got meringue cookies (actually, Muguet, "Lily"), despite urging to get some fresh cake sometime (I'm a little too recognizable, so they know I haven't bought cake there for some time, despite once being a frequent customer). I had already eaten almost half of these at the time of taking the picture, because they are excellent (I need to hide them now).

Ces Jour: Opera Equateur

Today I cycled to P. Ces Jours and took the "chef"'s recommendation, the Opera Equateur for 486 yen. There was some confusion when I was ordering because the card was in front of a completely different cake, a mostly white one, so I was assumed the Kaoka chocolate was white (since the rest of the card that I had time to read just went on and on about how great and fruity it smelled ). The actual cake is a dark chocolate cake which I've read elsewhere has almond in the biscuit part, which makes sense. Couldn't smell anything outside in the strong wind (it blew over after this photo, but was saved by the fact that it is really dense and it landed flat on the far side, which still has it's plastic. Sometimes I thick really dense chocolate cake is really great, but in this case, even though it was definitely good, I guess I've had enough other good dense chocolate cake not to feel that it was exceptional. Still, it was a good, heavy chocolate cake and it wouldn't be out of place at a great shop, but it would still probably not be the cake that I remembered afterward (since presumably if they are a great shop, they have other things that I definitely think are great). So I'm taking P. Ces Jours gets a "good?" designation instead of an "excellent?" designation on the map.
I also stopped at La Saison Boulangerie because I am am greedy. I got a Chocolate Danish for 194 yen. This also was good.

So currently, I have 9 shops marked as being "great" and 39 marked as being "excellent", although one of those sells just more cookie-like mille feuille, three are bakeries with excellent bread or pastries, one is a cheesecake shop, one is a tea salon (no takeout), and one is a chocolate shops with a single fresh chocolate tart, which means that none of them are a priority for comparison, leaving 32 potentially excellent fresh (you are supposed to eat today) cake shops. All the ones due for another visit are within "running" distance (when I can run, or I can try night cycling, if it comes to that), so I'm thinking I should do new shops for weekends and holidays first and save the. However, I want great cake next, and I've only posted 7 cakes from Paris S'Eveille (plus two pastries), so I've talked myself into going there tomorrow (really, I want to visit Cuoca's chocolate selection and add to my 7.5 cm brioche form set, although I have 12 and I only used 10 to make pecan-pie tarts, which I baked too long or too hot, although still good).

Thursday: Passion de Rose: exotic

As planned, I went to Isetan after work and got cake from Passion de Rose, which is this week's visiting patisserie, whom I haven't posted on but have had their cake some time in the past and found it good but not exceptional. Maybe because the next day was a holiday, there was the longest line I've seen since the renovation (which is not that long) and most varieties were sold out. My best choice was this, which I think is the Exotic, for 560 yen. Supposedly, this is chocolate with passion fruit, as well as earl grey and banana. Although imported, it is hard for me to think of bananas as exotic, and I almost just left without buying anything, but I got this give them a chance to impress me. However, even though banana was mentioned last in their description, it was dominant (although I could taste the chocolate). It's a good cake, but nothing special and definitely does not convince me that I need more cakes with banana in them.

L'Abricotier: Trilogie au Chocolat

Have been busy, but got a chance to go out on a weekday, so I visited L'Abricotier for a fourth post. Still didn't get my third target cake, but got this Trilogie au Chocolat for 480 yen. This is a chocolate mousse dome with dark, milk, and white chocolate layers (besides the chocolate coating on the outside). I'm really struggling with rating this one, since it doesn't really escape the limitations of the chocolate mousse dome, although the taste was good and the construction was excellent (of example, the base cake was not overly soft sponge, unlike a non-Tokyo shop I visited for lack of much else open in that neighborhood yesterday). Also, based on their reputation so far, I'm going to put this one down as excellent, as it is an excellent example of what it is. We'll see what they have for me next week, although I'll probably go again on a Wednesday (a national holiday), so they may have exactly the same cakes available, which is okay.

In running news, I haven't been, and yet things do not seem to be getting better, perhaps because I did a lot of walking and some biking. My experimentation with serious running last Friday really did not agree with my knees, which made walking last weekend unpleasant, but I'm not sure that it's even the same part of the my knee as before. It feels more like my college knee problems come back. Anyway, I won't be running again soon and I won't be running like that again unless I try it for a very short distance and see how that goes and then slowly build things up, over months if not years. Definitely more pain than I'm willing to put up with and not something I can run with, even though it most seemed okay at the time.

Finally, running, back to Frédéric Cassel for Tarte Chocolat a la Caramélia

No rain, no knee pain, and no cold (I hope), so I ran today!

It's been so long (well, more than a week) that I had forgotten what it feels like, so I went with that and tried running in a way that I knew was different: I ran like a girl. Or at least, I ran like a former girl group (AKB48) member who just started as the third host on a running program that I decided I should watch. She did a marathon 4 years ago but hasn't been running. She was preparing for a 10K (well, or she couldn't be a host), but didn't want to get big muscles on her legs. Actually, that is reasonable, because top long-distance runners don't have thick legs, because that is not necessary or efficient.

So she met a trainer (at the Gaien course, naturally because it's a marked route and there is big open space in the middle for training) who photographed her form and told her that she was taking too big of steps in the sense of the height of her toes. I've heard this before: think of stepping on a tuna can when you run, because you don't want your toes far off the ground when your heel hits. Otherwise, you are putting on the breaks, which uses a lot of muscles for stopping and then restarting. The other thing was lean forward, which they didn't talk about, but showed.

So today I didn't try to pump my legs at all, I just leaned into it and tried to keep then rolling fairly effortlessly. I wasn't sure how far I could do it, so I broke it up before the biggest hill going out to Ginza, but I ended up faster after that point than before, both very fast and almost racing speed on the hill part (it goes back down, of course). In one way, it is effortless, because I'm not trying to go fast at all, I'm just trying to do it at all (I have no basis for comparison running like this). At the last part of that 5.2 km fairly continuous run (there are a couple lights that you can't make at a reasonable speed), I didn't feel tired and was going as fast as I probably went the whole run, but on the other hand puffing very hard. When I stopped at the light just short of Ginza (from which I walked to Ginza Mitsukoshi), then I could feel that I had used some muscles.

Going back, I did 4 km very slow because I was somewhat tired, that kind of running doesn't work with carrying cake and having the weight of my jacket in my backpack, and my left knee called attention to itself at about the same point as my previous run, though not as bad, not increasingly bad, and not hurting during the walk home from the 100 yen shop (although I still iced it for a bit). Also, no headache, so the runny nose I have left is just from pollen and the fact that I woke up 90 minutes early this morning.

The cake was my eighth from Frédéric Cassel, and I'll give the name a try: Tarte Chocolat a la Caramélia for 756 yen. The website leaves off the "Chocolat" that was on the in-store card. This is a baked tart with milk chocolate ganache (and a small amount of pecan pieces) under caramel chocolate ganache cream. It was definitely excellent. I like chocolate tarts and this was a good one.

Pierre Hermé: Plaisirs Sucré

I'm still a little drippy today, so I didn't go running in the rain, but maybe tomorrow. I don't want to get more sick, since I've got important plans for the weekend.

Swung by Isetan and got a Plaisir Sucré for 648 yen, which is considerably cheaper than on the Paris homepage, even with the stronger yen. According to there, it is a dacquoise biscuit with crunchy hazelnuts, hazelnut crisp, thin wafers of milk chocolate, milk chocolate ganache, and milk chocolate chantilly, which pretty much sums my experience: like a really good milk chocolate bar with nuts. That limits it somewhat, but it's still definitely excellent and I would welcome another one.

Sadaharu Aoki: Fraisier

Still feeling like I have a head cold, so no running. And it makes me so hungry, which means I can't bake anything, because I'll just eat all of it.

Today, I got cake from Sadaharu Aoki, the seasonal Fraisier, which is, I think, strawberries in custard sandwiched between meringue (update, I think it was actually dacquoise) biscuits. It was more strawberries than I knew I needed like, but I figured I should get at least one of these seasonal cakes this year from them (they have a couple strawberry tarts, as well). Everything was excellent, though not exciting and at 830 yen, once is probably enough for me.

I still haven't posted on Bamboo (the green tea cake), their cheesecake, or choux à la crème, but the next post will probably be on Pierre Hermé, unless I recover tomorrow and can run Wednesday or Thursday to Ginza.

Cycling to L'Abricotier: Noisettine

No running today, and now I feel sick (not sure with what), so no running tomorrow looks like, but it wouldn't hurt to keep resting my knee.

Did go out by bicycle (wasn't feeling particularly sick then, although there were symptoms yesterday; could just be new pollen flying around there, especially with these high winds). It was back to L'Abricotier again. They didn't have the featured cake that I was looking for (only three little fresh cakes featured on their main page, and I've had the first two), so I went with what appealed to me the most, even though it is new (new things aren't necessarily the best way to evaluate a place, since they can be novelty for novelty's sake, but this is the third cake, so not a big deal). I ate in again, for the same reason as last time: bicycles and cake do not mix and strong wind (although I waited until the rain had stopped). This time, a different person (and on a different day of the week) didn't press me to order a drink (although that could have been my misunderstanding last time).

I got the Noisettine, which is apple and hazelnut on a (butter?) tart base. Specifically, there is a lot of hazelnut cream (I think) with chopped hazelnuts, a tart base that may have apple but I strongly suspect hazelnuts (or hazelnut power) in it, since it was obviously darker than just butter and flour, with some small green pieces of apple sauté (so, really soft) in between. I liked all aspects of this and the basic idea appeals to me, although I didn't know that apple would be good (actually, there is not a lot and I'm not sure how much I could taste it other than sensing that it added some sweetness). The price was only 450 yen. I definitely plan to go back next week and the week after that (no cake could be bad enough next week that I wouldn't still think this place potentially great).

Cycling to La Rose des Japonais: Pixy

As promised, I did not run, but I did go to a high-priority patisserie, La Rose des Japonais, that I had written "very good" on their card so I wanted to check out how they fell in terms of my current evaluations. It's a long trip, but because of my knee (and poor bicycle), I was not going fast. It took about half the time as running, which is about the best I can do, with everything factored in. Still, halfway there, I was wondering whether I was making a mistake, as the trouble spot (tendon, I think, under and on the outside of the left knee) starting tingling, but it never got very sensitive and didn't bother me on the way back (which may just been it was numbed, although it never really hurt).

I got their top cake, the Pixy, for 561 yen. It's pistachio nut mouse on the outside (also, some sort of nut clusters and a strawberry, both good) and custard (?) mixed with tiny pieces of strawberry and a thin layer of strawberry gelatin on the inside. The strawberry flavor, when I get to the custardy part, reminded me of pie or a flaky-crust tart filling, which is okay but not usually what I'm looking for. It was definitely good and might be excellent under the right conditions and for the right person. So I'll mark this shop as probably good on the map (and fix the shop name spelling) and not feel a need to visit again soon.

However, I still want to do the nearby Tokyo History and Culture Course, so I'll probably stop in and get something there, but I've plotted out a 60 km course (which crashed the map, so I just have to remember it for now) that would swing me back around west far enough to visit a possibly excellent to great shop, so I'll probably go for a pastry at La Rose des Japonais, if they have something of that sort--I can't remember.

Friday: Frédéric Cassel, Jivara

Did a little running after 4 days rest for the back tendon on my left knee. Managed 8.3 km very slow. No problem for maybe 7 km, but then I decided I had to stop. That's not too bad for such a short rest. I'll stick to bicycling this weekend and see how I am for running Monday.

Went to Frédéric Cassel in Ginza Mitsukoshi, and they had some new cakes for April, unlike Henri le Roux, so they are more like a real cake place in that respect. This time's cake was Jivara, which is a kind of milk chocolate I've learned (I always have to look up the phonetic Japanese to try to figure out what the Roman spelling might be). It's mainly milk chocolate mousse, although drier than normal for mousse, almost "cake-like", if that makes sense in context. There was also Bavarian creme inside and hazelnut, although I'm not sure how the latter was mixed in, besides the obvious ones on top. It was well balanced and maybe excellent (versus definitely excellent), but I'd prefer better for 756 yen, though the price is not surprising for the location.

Addict au Sucre

No running today, but my walking is basically normal again, unlike yesterday. Cycling (to go food shopping for nuts and oil) feels a little funny, but better than running (I ran a short way to make a light today), so I guess the first step is to get where I can cycle without pain.
I got cake at Isetan today from the visiting shop Addict au Sucre: Paris-Brest Noisette Orange, which is mousseline (Hollandaise sauce plus whipped cream) with orange in a feuillantine sandwich, so it is kind of eclair-like, as Paris-Brest always are. It was 561 yen, which seems a little high, but it was definitely good, though I'm not ready to go beyond that.

Homemade brownies with almond powder

Made brownies again, this time with almond powder (50% substituted for flour) rather than almonds I ground myself. Still was moister in the middle than last time I made with just flour and the same pecans. On the web, it says that's what I should expect. They are good, but I think I'll try increasing the temperature or decreasing the height, though a little moisture in the middle is not bad and preferred by some. Not a great picture.

Sunamachi-Kasai-Mizue History and Culture course: L'Abricotier

Took today off and got up early (before dawn) to run the Sunamachi-Kasai-Mizue History and Culture course. Still having knee trouble, or rather I think the tendon or something under and on the outside of the knee, so I have to be careful turning with the left leg, but no problem running fast straight or running up hills and stairs, which is weird. Not the normal knee problem. If necessary, I'll rest days or weeks until it is better, but in any case, I should not consider myself ready for longer distances until I can run in the 40 to 50 km range without getting this kind of problem.

First leg of the course is the Sunamachi Saltspray Walk from Minami Suanamchi Station. Doesn't seem to be any reason for this leg (although it was sort of on my way). I mean, there is sort of a park at the beginning, but I've been there before and it's just some place for people to pass through going north from the station (toward the residential section). The walk ends where the course branches, north of Nishi ("West") Kasai Station.

The south branch goes down past the station, by a big baseball stadium, and from there goes through a park course down to Kasirinkaikoen Station, which is named for the big park south of it, Kasai Seaside Park. The course weaves along a cycling road, park, bridges over main roads, and paths along artificial streams with lots of little bridges, so it's hard to be quick and it's well separated from the street. The final park, which I didn't get deeply into, is big and was recommended to me once by a birder as the best place to see birds in Tokyo. On the other side of a channel that connects up to Edo River is Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea. This walk is the Kasai Wave Walk.

I traced the Kasai Wave Walk back to the branch point and headed northeast long the Sound of Old River Walk, which has a long stretch along a narrow stone path weaving along an artificial stream toward the end. The course changes name when you get to the same channel as I mentioned below (only, this is a different branch than the one going to Edo River). The final part is the Ichinoe Nanushi Estate Walk and ends at Mizue Station. It's okay, but again, I'm not that interested in this flat, below sea level (?) part of Tokyo, which is very car centered.

I came back mostly along Route 50. At Nihonbashi, I went in Mitsukoshi to visit the Dalloyau and got a Pain ("bread") d'Orange 324 yen. It's a danish made with their croissant dough and cream, orange, and sugar. Like their croissant, it was great.

Then I continued home running until the Lawson 100. I was very slow all day, but not terribly. Going was 13.0 km, then 20.15 km on the H&C course, and 17.7 km running back, which is about 51 km, perhaps farther than I should have run, although on the way back, I had figured out how to run so that my left leg didn't cause problems. It's not a good long-term solution, but later when I had to walk a little after going out again for cake (which I'll get to next), I didn't feel any problems. I don't expect that to last, but I hope I can recover without having to completely stop for a few weeks again, by which time it will be the rainy season and then full summer. Still two more about 50 km H&C course runs that I can do, which just leaves two 100 km course runs that I won't be surprised if I'm never able to do as preferred (without a train or cycle assist).

For cake, I cycled to L'Abricotier, where I ate in. I had to buy tea, but it wasn't that expensive (only 350 yen more), and I got a little pot with about three cups worth, not like French Pound House. I actually needed the fluids (although I had eaten and drunk water before coming out again after running) and the winds were very strong, so even if I had been running rather than cycling (which doesn't agree with cake), it was better to eat in. I plan to do that on my next visit too.

The cake was Le Piemont for 450 yen. It's a mousse cake with milk chocolate outside, along with three kinds of nuts (the almond on top is hidden in the picture) and some biscuits that I also approve off. Inside is nut cream and chocolate cream, with chopped nuts within the nut cream, which is a good choice. The cake bottom has hazelnut in it. I'm choosing the cakes that appeal to me, so having two great cakes (as this was) is not enough evidence to be confident that this is a great shop, but it certainly seems to be at least another excellent one and I hope to go back next weekend, whether cycling or running (if I'm up for a long run, I want to do the Shibamata H&C course and visit La Rose des Japanais, which is my top priority after L'Abricotier).

Sunday: Lettre d'Amour [Closed]

It was convenient to stop at Lettre d'Amour and go to the cafe space, which had only one other person around noon on a Sunday, which shouldn't surprise me, given the general lack of customers there. I ordered the Caprice set, which was 1550 yen + 8% tax with a pot of tea, although I see that the receipt was rung up as if it were 870 yen and called Set Putiful (?), so I'm confused. I would say that this is a sampler, but the tiny cakes don't necessary correspond to current small cakes and it supposedly is not a stable lineup. Left to right, the first is cheese on the top layer, a delicious maracon, a little hard tart, perhaps rare cheese cake, solid chocolate with a candy coating, and probably pistachio mousse with raspberry inside and strawberry on top. I'll say this is great, but I don't really try to compare cafe sets with regular patisserie cake. Still, I'd be happy to go back, although there is also a Dalloyau cafe just down the street by Meguro Station, so that also would be tempting.

Saturday: Un Grain [Isetan]

Saturday was shopping. At the end, we stopped at Isetan. My hands were full, so I'm not sure about what cake had what name or much detail, but I'll say what I know. The cakes were, before the 8% tax, Harmonie for 408 yen, Nougat Pistache for 436 yen, and Succès Inverse for 408 yen. The Harmonie is raspberry and the Nougat Pistache is pistachio. Obviously, the Succès Inverse, is an reverse succès, though I don't know that I've had a succès (which I know is a kind of French cake) to compare it to; anyway, it is nuts (almonds and hazelnuts) on the outside and inside hazelnut meringue and some caramel. This last one was the only interesting one, though I can't say that any were above good. They are tiny with only a slightly reduced price, not they aren't filling any need of mine.

12.5 km to Aux Bacchanales and back for Mille Feuille

Did another Ginza run to Aux Bacchanales (with two back-ups ready in mind), which actually had several cakes (all familiar). It was 6.6 km there and 5.9 km back and I ran exactly the same time for both, within .04 s of each other, which is weird, but I suppose not that weird, since the numbers aren't random. I decided to give up on measuring small distance (on the order of 1 km) when I'm not on a track: too time consuming. Instead, I just have to run the hilly parts faster or make up time elsewhere. The outbound was fast and the return was moderate, both of which I'm happy with. I expect to rest (well, not really; actually, I have an exhaustingly lot of things planned) the next couple days and then I'm taking Monday off to run (as well as other things, perhaps), and then rest up to two days after that, since my knee is still not happy, but only to a certain extent (it hates walking the most, especially walking after running, and the beginning of running, but doesn't get worse and hasn't bothered me at home).

The cake was Mille Feuille for 465 yen. Yeah, it's not an expensive place, even in Ginza. This mille feuille has raspberries, which is a first for me I think. I like mille feuille and I liked this one. It was good, but I can't say that it was better than that, so calling Aux Bacchanales excellent rather than great probably is fair and I'll update the map.

Yoshinori Asami [@Isetan]：Van Dyke

Didn't run, but decided that my cake was overly linked to my running, which led me to run more days than I should. Or at least that is my excuse for going back to Yoshinori Asami again while they are at Isetan. This time I got the Van Dyke (? written phonetically as vandeekku, which is the correct original pronunciation of Van Dyke, for all I know), which is milk chocolate mouse and cassis mousse. The construction was similar to yesterday's but I was more satisfied with that aspect, somehow. I'm not particularly fond of cassis, but I don't dislike it and the balance was perfect and the mousse was so thick yet good, that I'm going to say that this was Great cake, for 540 yen.

Yoshinori Asami: Royal Chocolate

Did a very slow 1.5 km to the starting point of the Gaien course, partially intentionally and partially just I was really having trouble, because of my left knee and because I was not running toward cake. But when it came time to really run, I could do two laps (2.65 km total) very fast, which was the main goal for today. After that, I went to my start point (NW corner) for the Akasaka Palace course, did half a loop, and then went down to Akasakamitsuke and on to the Inner Moat course, which is 3.33 km and done at a moderate speed. Once around the Inner Course (taking the 5.1 km path) was also moderate, and then back to Akasakamitsuke and to where I left off the Akasaka Palace course to finish that lap, from where I took the unnecessarily hilly route up to Gaien Walk, following it only as far as the Lawson 100 on Shinjuku Street, which is 4.91 km and was very slow. Oddly, although my knee bothers me when I start running, running very fast sort of numbed it out and although it gave me trouble later, it didn't mind the hills at the end. Then walking home after shopping, though, was the worst, so it's stopping and starting that is a problem. Feels okay now. So about 17.5 km, which took a lot of time, so I can't run that far the next too days, because I really need to get some stuff done at home that isn't getting done.

The cake for today was from P. Yoshinori Asami, which is visiting Isetan in their newly expanded space, with really big display cases each holding only one example cake. Seems out of control, but it was crowded before. The cake was the Royal Chocolate for 540 yen. There are a couple fruits on the top, maybe cherries, but I couldn't tell, and a raspberry layer. Then there is a chocolate mousse layer and I think an almond mouse layer, although I need to go back and check the card. Finally, cake on the bottom. It wasn't hugely sophisticated but a long way from homemade-style, as it should be. It was excellent without really telling me what to expect from other cakes, since I selected the most likely to appeal to my tastes. Anyway, I'll need to get back there while they are convenient, which is until next Tuesday.

Aux Bacchanales

Today's run was to Aux Bacchanales in Ginza, which I decided had been unfairly booted from the list of potentially great cake shops. Started out 3.5 km fast despite my left knee. Even if my left knee is not happy, I can go faster by increasing my pace, not my stride length. I took it slow the next 0.95 km to the Inner Moat because there was a hill and I can never make the main traffic lights anyway. Along the main part of the south stretch of the inner mode, I did 1.1 km at a moderate speed. Then I did 1.0 km at racing speed, first just to make the next light and then just to continue until I got to Yamanote Line. From there, I went to Aux Bacchanales, got my cake, and got home, which was another 5.5 km achieved at a moderate space by keeping my pace fast (at least outside Ginza), which carrying cake does not really interfere with, although being tired does. So about .9 very slow, 6.6 moderate, 3.5 fast, and 1.0 racing speed, for a total of 12.0 km, which isn't too bad, but I'm going to need more the next few days to keep my weekly total up.

The cake was a Fraisier au Citron Vert, which is a strawberry custard cake, with icing, flavored with lime, for 465 yen. I forgot/didn't bother to take the ice pack out when I put it in the refrigerator, so it got really cold, which might not have been good for it, but didn't stop me from enjoying it and made it easy to cut the icy strawberries all the way through. The cake part was so moist that it was not that different from the custard part, but I was fine with that. Also, very sweet, which also worked with what is a sort of standard cake (without the lime flavor, which I was not conscious of) and so could be boring. I am surprised to find this excellent, so I guess Aux Bacchanales remains in the running for great. The hard part will be to get more cake, since they don't have many types to begin with and they literally only had two pieces, and I was there fairly early for a workday. I'll have to make sure that I have a backup place next time I go, or conversely that I always check there first rather than someplace else in the area that I'm less worried about selling out.

47.5 km with Nishiarai-Takenotsuka History and Culture course and P. L'Automne

Rain in the morning, so I waited an hour before it at least was thin enough that I could not see the splashes in the street and someone was not bothering with an umbrella. It still rained light for a few hours.

Had an okay run. Went very slow the whole way, which was 47.5 km. I was very tempted (after 4 hours running) and willing to extend the run to go back to L'Abricotier, since they are a top priority in a sense and I would just have to change where I turned to go by them, but I finally talked myself down into sticking with the plan. Left knee was not happy most of the time, but doesn't seem any worse and I don't feel anything when I'm not running (when I rested for a little, it felt completely fine and didn't really get more than annoying for the whole run). I'll try more complete rest for 48+ h and taking anti-inflammatories for the next could days and see if things go any better.

Still trying to figure out my next run. I'm busy on the weekend, so I'm taking a Monday off (also, to catch up on shopping, sleep, laundry, or whatever I'm low on after being busy). If I did them in order, after this one should be Shimabata H&C course, but that one goes by La Rose Des Japanais, which is a far shop I really want to get back to but is closed Mondays. Instead, maybe, I'll jump ahead to Sunamachi-Kasai-Mizue, which is less far but long. Originally, I planned to visit a shop I remember as being good but haven't posted on, but then the run would be little long for my next run, if I try to keep my increases to 10%, so I think I'll skip that cake shop, which is not a high priority and not so far by itself. I can pick up cake when I come back through Ginza or go by Isetan later. With that shop out, I save 3 km. Of course, then I'll have to think once again about how to increase Shimabata H&C course run, which I already added visits to Chiba and Saitama prefectures to stretch it to 49 km.

Today's target, the Nishiarai-Takenotsuka History and Culture course, comprises the Shimane-Rokugatsu Temple Tour Walk and the Ikou Temple Town Walk (according to my translation of the Japanese names), as shown on my map and is just over 7 km by my calculation. It's okay. There are few nice temples to go by and much of the last bit is on a stone paved sidewalk along an artificial irrigation channel (which sounds better than drainage ditch). I don't really need to come back up here, though, probably, but I haven't planned that far ahead.

The cake was at L'Automne, which I remembers as good without really evaluating it here. It's a nice shop, spacious, modern, and elegant. There are three two-person tables for eating in, which I did, and they didn't make me buy a drink (milk or yogurt would be great, but I think they just had tea and coffee), though had some reasonable cake and drink specials. I stuck to just the one cake, though. Not sure how that works out for them. They have to wash dishes, but save a box and bag. The custard and fruit was a nice touch, but the glass of water was more important. The cake is call Collage, for 540 yen, and is a thick layer of chocolate mousse, a medium layer of pistachio mouse, and a thin layer of raspberry between, covered in chocolate with a crunchy nut base. And it was definitely good. The raspberry is gelatin, but the mousses are without I think, or at least I remember being told that about their cakes on another day when I said it would take 2 h to take some mousse cake back home (back when I was doing long walks). Everything was good, and sometimes chocolate mousse is not for me, so I'm actually satisfied (it was better than today's Seven-Eleven donut, which was a Sweet Cream Donut, I think), but there was not really anything to make it excellent. Still, they're nice, so I'll look forward to getting back there some time.

L'Abricotier: L'Abricotier

No running, in preparation for tomorrow's run (definitely no running Monday either, unless tomorrow's is rained out).  I was reminded that riding a bicycle in Tokyo is not particularly pleasant (too many people and cars), but I was doing some shopping that required carrying things and I preferred exercise.

The signature cake of L'Abricotier (the apricot) is L'Abricotier, which is 460. The apricot comes in as gelatin, which is fine, whereas most of the cake is almond mousse (thus the almond on top). There is a small cake disk toward the bottom which I think uses hazelnuts, and a crunch bottom that is almond. It's possible that I have the nuts reversed on the last, as the nut pieces were fairly big and did not look like they were cut from either, although I suppose it's hard to tell. Mini macarons were appreciated, as they almost always are. I'm going to say that this was great (even if I don't expect other cakes from here to live up to this level).

De Bon Coeur: Passion Mousse Chocolat

Tonight, despite cooling off more than I had hoped and a somewhat strong wind, I did my longest round trip workday with cake (I say without checking the previous hundreds of entries). I went to De Bon Coeur, in Shinagawa, which you get to going south of Meguro Station (if you want to go to Meguro, you need to go west: the station is in Shinagawa, whereas Shinagawa Station is in Minato-ku, which doesn't need a station because it's in the middle). It took me 9 km out, slightly slow, and 8.8 km back very slow, with a little rain and carrying a Passion Mousse Chocolat, which I got for 691 yen.

The run and route is okay, mostly familiar, along a history & culture route for much of the last stretch.


The cake is a fairly solid mousse (which is I suppose good, since I ran it almost 9 km and a gelatin-less mousse would just puddle with that much vibration, maybe). I have to wonder if there is cheese in it (didn't read the card that thoroughly, as usual), just because that seems to be a general specialty, or it's just gelatinous for the usual reasons. The chocolate is coating on the outside, some mousse in the middle and some cake on the bottom. The passion fruit is just the small section on the right. Note sure what the large white section is, since there is no taste, which is why I wonder if it is cheese. The is good, as far as being good quality and not bad tasting, but no better, so I'll switch the rating of the shop to "Good?" on the map and look at other potentially excellent shops that I've had less than two cakes blogged from.