Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille over Jean-Paul Hévin's Tonka

It's been a couple years since I've had the Tonka from Jean-Paul Hévin, so I was anxious to get it in a first-round cake-off. My original plan was changed to Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille because the other shop is closed for maintenance. I'm pretty sure that the next cake-off will not involve both of these shops (notice that I didn't say either of these shops, since JPH currently has five great cakes that I haven't done second-round cake-offs for yet and I don't know what order that they are going to be removed from the line-up, but I suspected the newest three might also be the first to go). The weather for the first day of Spring is terrible. I got some running in early before it worse (and well before it turned to snow) and then resorted to trains. My exploration of northwest Shibuya-ku convinced me that the route is going to become really complicated, so I should try for simple smaller loops first and merge them later rather than get too wrapped up in the big picture. I followed that advice and created a new loop for just southwest of Shibuya Station, leaving open what will happen on the other side of Old Yamanote (which can crossed at one point by an underpass).

Tonka bean is an interesting flavor, which I appreciated. However, even though I first had it just three days ago, I can't overlook how good Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille is. Tonka will have to wait for the second round, probably either against PH's traditional pistachio strawberry tart or (if that disappears) SA's modern chocolate praliné cake.