Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Monsieur Arnaud over Rue de Passy's Opera Pistache

No running is this plan for this week too. For today, though I went by bicycle down to Jiyuugaoka and back to get cakes for a cake-off. The lead cake Paris S'éveille's Monsieur Arnaud, in the sense that it's next on the list of available cakes, originally from April. To go with it, my first choice was Opera Pistache (a name I apparently haven't used before, but that's what I remember seeing on the card, though it could have said "Pistachio" without me noticing). I also confirmed the hotel bar and patisserie, Megan, in Higashi, Shibuya. I could see a lot of foreigners inside, so image a hotel on a former site of an incinerator is less attractive to locals. Also, I assume it's cheap and for people attracted to the Shibuya Station area.

Both of these cakes are pretty robust to cycling, for fortunately. I enjoyed both cakes, though I admit my physical condition wasn't as good as I would like, and it might have been impacting my appreciation. Still, I don't feel compelled to cut either of these from the list, but Monsieur Arnaud is more important to me.

Other important news is that Paris S'éveille had a new cake, so when I've got more than one day free a week (when I like to do a cake-off), I should try to get down there; I'm about 3 cakes beyond on visiting them. Until then, Isetan has more shops with cakes that are a high priority than I have days this week to visit them, so no problem.

I almost forgot to mention that I visited the Tokyo Midtown Jean-Paul Hévin for lunch on Saturday. For dessert, besides half a Mont-Blanc (maybe their best cake), I shared Œuf à la Neige, which was interesting as something new, but other not very exciting, just good.

Megan: Moist Gateau Chocolat

Wednesday, I noticed that the Trend Sweets shop at Isetan (which get's a three-week run) had cake, so I changed my plan and got a Moist Gateau Chocolat from Megan Bar & Patisserie, which is based in Higashi, Shibuya Ward, outside the Yamanote Line. It's too new to show up on Google Streetview, but I assume it's part of a new hotel that they provide a link to on their webpage. I'll have to work it into my neighborhood map once I'm up and running again. I got a slice, but they use the name for a whole cake with a different top decoration on their website. On their cake menu, they list Moist Terrine Chocolat, so I assume that this is probably that version. Anyway, it's a flour-less chocolate cake, which I'm pretty easy for. There was not a lot of other cake options there, nothing I'm overly optimistic about, but I'll be sure to follow up while they are at Isetan (which will probably remain my only source through next week), since this was an excellent first cake.

Le Salon Jacques Borie: Tarte Tatin

Tuesday, I was back at Isetan, this time to get cake at the new  Le Salon Jacques Borie counter (the tea salon has been around since I've been visiting Isetan). The selection is limited in general, but they had Tarte Tatin, so I chose that. This is a first cake from this as take-out. I don't get Tatin very often, so I did not have high expectations, but this was really rich. That probably means a lot of sweetener, but I've wondering whether any of that was alcoholic (though I guess there was not an obvious alcohol taste, so if there was, it was probably burned off in cooking). This was excellent, which is consistent with most cakes I've had from the salon. Next I'll probably get the fruit tart.

Sadaharu Aoki, Paradis Fraise

No running this week, but I'll be making visits to Isetan when I can. Today I got the seasonal cake that I haven't had before, Paradis Fraise, which is a macaron cake sandwiching strawberries and pistachio cream together with white chocolate. It was certainly excellent, which is the least I would expect from Sadaharu Aoki.

Colombin: Gateau aux Fraises

I visited Colombin for the first time. Rather than the main shop that is directly on my neighborhood course, I was in the Shinjuku Station neighborhood, so I went to the Keiou Shinjuku Salon. As my cake sample, I got the Gateau aux Fraises, though the Japanese was Shortcake. This was definitely good. This was maybe average or slightly heavy whipped cream, whereas some like it light, but I was fine with it.

A big set menu was also chosen that included an ice cream desert, including the mont-blanc, but not the chestnut. It also was good.

Coffee Parlor Hilltop: Pistache Chocolat & Savarin

No running today, or any time next week. I'll be happy when walking is more pleasant. Still, life goes on, and I had an excuse be out toward Ochanomizu, so I visited Coffee Parlor Hill Top for lunch. This came to my attention from an NHK problem, which is a better commendation than simply being in the neighborhood, though there are still some good prospects there. The lunch was fine, but I don't feel a need to blog it---Expensive, in a nice atmosphere. The place is old, so I guess it will be closed down temporarily, something like May to November, but I'm not sure of the exact dates now. For desert, there were two cake sets. I wanted Pistache Chocolat, so I ate most of that one, but had about half of the Savarin as well.

The Pistache Chocolat also has a some strawberry, which should not be ignored. Slicing the strawberry was a good idea I haven't seen in a similar cake (and I'll do more now at home, where I have a knife). This is pistachio whipped cream, I think, over chocolate mousse, cake, and crunchy bottom. It's not really stable, so really it should be removed from it's plastic base and laid on its side. They certainly shouldn't present it to customers with the plastic wrap still on it, I should think. They need to work on their presentation. As cake, though, it was simple and yet well balanced, rather sweet, but that worked for me. Perhaps out of perversity, because in my condition and the condition of the shop, it's hard to get back there, I'll say it was great. Of course, if I said it was excellent, I would still want to get back there as I collect third cakes from quite good shops, but I have a higher priority now. If I find another great cake, I can do a cake-off with it, but it will have to be see. We'll see what cake JPH introduces next month.

The Savarin was heavy on citrus but I couldn't taste any alcohol at all, so maybe no rum. It was still good but not my kind of thing, nor are verrine generally. Under the new rating system, one just good cake is not a big deal (I always assume the five more good cakes in the pool when estimating my chance of getting a great cake next).

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Saint Honoré Caramel over Éclat des Jours' Rhum Raisin

Today's is not a very happy post. First, in celebration of the first day of spring (a national holiday, sensible) I went to Éclat des Jours by bicycle and got their Rhum Raisin for a cake-off and brought it back the same way. That was fine, though I found that the cleaners is closed on holidays. They also close early on workdays, and I've been working late, which is kind of a problem. I'm hoping Friday I'm not to late, because I really need to pick something up, even if I don't have time to stop at home to get something to take.

In the afternoon, I ran to Paris S'éveille to get their Saint Honoré Caramel. For some reason, Google suggested what seemed to be a longer than usual route (maybe if finally figured out that you can't cross Ring Road 7 on foot from the road parallel to the train tracks. I also incorporated a couple sites to take pictures of, one new (old) bread shop in Jinguumae and a couple in meguro (and one that turned out to not exist), if I ever get back to expanding the neighborhood course. I seemed to be running fine until the last kilometer, and then my right foot had had enough. I could manage to continue, but it wasn't pleasant and I iced at home. I had skipped running 4 days. Looks like I'm going to skip more next. Well, I'm a little busy the next couple weekends anyway. Got got my cake and saw that they had a couple of other regular ones I want to cake-offs that I hadn't seen previously, so know I know I just have to go at the right time.

I wasn't that into cake today, and I'm reluctant to blame the cake, but certainly Rhum Raisin has also been a precarious as a great cake. Sure it's the best rum raisin cake I know, but do I need it? It's on probation, but it had three great evaluation, so it's not in any immediate danger of getting kicked off. However the win goes to Saint Honoré Caramel, though I'm feeling that I've had this too much lately. Also, I didn't match this up will with tea, so I should watch that (it's pretty sweet, so it needs a strong tea to balance it). Still, I really appreciated it's quality as a saint honoré compared to a recent disappointment.

Michalak, Michalak Monkoeur

Wednesday, again my feet felt much better than the previous day, but not perfect. Decided not to run, though I did walk again to Isetan and get cake and later I rode a bicycle to get groceries, which was actually no problem, so I'm going to try going out by bicycle tomorrow morning as stage one. The second stage is still planned to be on foot, so I'm not sure how that will go. Also, rain is coming, which might matter. Anyway, for today, I got a first cake a shop on the neighborhood running course that just opened a counter at Isetan, besides the one on Omotesandou Avenue on the end near the Harajuku Station (on the far southeast end, for the subway): Michalak. I got the Michalak Monkoeur (I'm assuming the spelling was deliberate, versus Mon Coeur, since other product names used k's when written in the Latin alphabet, though where to break between words is less clear). This is a chocolate biscuit, yuzu syrup, chocolate mousse (under the red sauce), and exotic fruit (I think at Isetan the explanation said 4 fruits, in the form of compote). The fruit taste is a little thick but this is nicely decadent, so combined with it being a first cake, I think excellent is a reasonable rating. I'd certainly like to have another cake from them.

Ladurée: Fleur Noire

Tuesday, still no running, but my feet were much better, maybe 75%. Not perfect, though, and I'm worried about a partial sprain, so not something I want to rush. I did feel free to walk even further for cake (besides the normal daily commuting, which is a few kilometers total). This time, in response to their cake-off win (and because they rank high as a quite good shop even under the new system, so I need to see whether they should be promoted to excellent), I went to Lumine at Shinjuku Station and got Fleur Noire from Ladurée. This thing is pretty decadent, with both chocolate and almond icing, dark chocolate mousse, and bourbon vanilla (that is, vanilla from Madagascar) cream in the middle. They're working pretty hard at this one, but it is excellent, so they may be able to make the transition. Got a lot of other shops to sort out after the reorganization, so I'm not sure yet.

Sadaharu Aoki: Éclair Sakura

Monday, I again didn't run due to not liking how my feet felt. I hadn't gone out on Sunday at all, so it was a little surprised that the feeling was as strong as it was just from walking a kilometer at a time, though when I was running daily, my morning foot pain was worse (not sure that today even would count as pain, just a somewhat weird burning numbness), but less the sort to be concerned about. Still, I went to Isetan and got something, so I was not that bad: the Éclair Sakura from Sadaharu Aoki. All the éclair I've gotten from them have been good and my experience is that fruit goes well with éclair. That was also true with this one. Not sure what was in it besides the obvious cherry, but quite rich for custard. I suspect alcohol. Anyway, not to have another new cake from Sadaharu Aoki. They have one more that I can try, so I'll save it for next week.

En Vedette: Rin

Saturday, despite some worries that I twisted my ankle stretching (I was trying to twist it, in a sense, but not to the point of a slightly burning numbness). There was not pain running, though it felt a little funny, but at the end I was more convinced that I should take a rest. A real sprain takes weeks to heal, so I hope that level of rest is not necessary, because I'm not that patient, but I'll test it small. Anyway, no running (or cake) Sunday. For cake, I got Rin, which seemed interesting. It's obviously matcha (I think it's matcha, or at least some form of green tea) and chocolate. Note sure what else. It's fine/good, but wasn't a good follow-up for Friday's disappointment.

In fact, I'm changing my entire numerical ranking system to simplify it and hopefully make it easier to compare shops that I've had different numbers of cake from. What I really want to know is what's the chance the next cake I get from this shop is great, so in particular I wouldn't worry so much about whether that non-great cakes were actually bad, okay, or just good. JPH comes out at 48% (even after adding 5 good cakes to each shop sample to account for selection bias), whereas supposedly superb B-E comes out at  26%, which is below a few in the next lower category. After I finish catching up on past cake-off wins, I'll probably work my way down through shops that are now at the top of their categories before getting back to reviewing quite good shops, which are going to have the same problem regardless of how I rate shops, because two cakes isn't enough to distinguish which ones should be cut.

Liberté: Saint Honoré

Thursday, I wanted to do a short run and get a pastry or some other small non-cake item. I was going to check Jinguumae and go as far as Shibuya Station, if necessary, but did not expect to find a bakery café on the north end on Jinguumae. I only found it because I overshot where I intended to turn and was doubling back on a road that cuts perpendicular to any direction I'm usually trying to go. The shop is Tournage and the café aspect is apparently fairly recent, not not terribly obvious from even looking inside, since there is not a lot of space. There was lots of sold out display space relative to the tiny size and I guess they do baking classes there. A newer shop is out in Toranomon could also be connected to the neighborhood course map if I use subway access stairs and tunnels to get past the main roads. I got a nut tart of some sort, which was definitely good and better than I expected, so they probably have good stuff, if you go earlier than I did, though they are more bread oriented than pastries. Anyway, it seems a much more significant bakery than the other bakery on the Jinguumae north loop.

Friday, I went to Isetan and got a cake from Liberté, who are a relatively new place and was visiting Isetan for the first time. I got what was labeled as just Saint Honoré, though it was chocolate. Unfortunately, it was just good: worth eating but not really worth buying. It can boast good ingredients, which I believe. I've been giving good shops a second chance when they visit Isetan, but I might wait until their next visit, as I have a lot of other places I want to go. For running, I successfully practiced the newly revised Jinguuemae north loop. It's another half kilometer longer but simpler in some ways.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Théâtre Over Très Calme's Pistache Apricot

Took the afternoon off and ran down to Jiyuugaoka. No rain, so I took a couple pictures to fill in the neighborhood running map and give me some intermediate goals. Also, since I hadn't had lunch yet, I got a Pain au Noisette et Chocolat from the underground Jean François at Omotesandou Station. It was good, but I was wishing for a tighter layering and the hazelnuts weren't have much of an effect, though the filling wasn't bad, and I've had some bad Pain au Chocolat for that reason, so the hazelnuts might be an improvement.

My goal was to get the Saint Honoré Caramel from Paris S'éveille, which seems to be hardest amount accessible ones, so I wasn't surprised that I failed. I had to go with my third choice (just based on it's calendar order in the list), which was Théâtre, their chocolate mousse in shell cake. I took the train back to Isetan and got the Pistache Apricot, taking advantage of Très Calme still being there, at least until Thursday (Friday is a new shop visiting only 5 days, so I'll want to go on Friday). I suppose I could have planned for the Mont-Blanc, but that's always going to be in the line-up.

These are both great cakes, but I'm giving the win to the chocolate cake. What can I say: I'm predictable. It's still early in the third round, so this is only the fourth cake-off of that round between two undefeated cakes, but Théâtre is currently my top chocolate cake at this level. There's a lot of chance in that, so hopefully I can pit it against another chocolate cake next time. 

Cerulean Tower-Tokyu-Hotel, Noisette Carré Citron

Returning to my review of my quite good shop list, I visited Cerulean Tower-Tokyu-Hotel, where I chose what the card said and I'll call Noisette Carré Citron, though the receipt gives the longer name Carré a la Noisette et Citron, or at least it gets as far as the second "C". This shop is far enough way and I had enough to do at home that I didn't add in any detours. It was typical of a hotel cake, bigger on presentation than taste. It was still good, being made up of good stuff, but didn't really add up to anything more. They'll probably get cut from the list, if I can find a couple more shops that are better.

Sadaharu Aoki, Symphonie

Sunday evening, I decided to try to get the Isetan exclusive cake. I figured it was probably sold out, but if I could get it, I would run. As it happened, they were fully stocked even around 6 pm. Because of the upcoming White Day, they had two registers going and a line set up, but the moved quickly and I wasn't completing with the other people for cake, since they needed gift items, so I could Symphonie, which is a raspberry macaron-style cake with whole raspberries, tea-flavored crème brûlée, and violet cream. For the run, I did a clockwise run around the Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop finally. It's longer than I thought be a little closer, but still is about 10 km total and I took a longer way back to stop by a grocery. Counterclockwise might be harder, as I'm not sure where I'm supposed to turn off the inner street to go to the multi-lane main road on the west side to swing by a church.

The cake was excellent, with the macaron having just the amount of chewiness that I like in a macaron. The filling is not so exciting though, too subtle for me, but there is another macaron cake as a more general seasonal cake at all the shops through April, so I should get that one next week.

Cafe Landtmann: Landtmanntorte

Friday night, I got of work reasonably on time and did a run down to finish confirming the Minami-Aoyama east loop. The first fact meant that this took me by Viking Bakery F while they were still open, so I got half a loaf of Sourdough Bread, which is not something you can get a lot of places. It was definitely good. I toasted it and had it with olive oil, or at least most of it. The picture is at only half way through, after which I shared.

Saturday morning, I went out and just did photo of sites on the map I wanted to confirm. As usually, I found a couple I didn't know about, so the just expanded Roppongi 6 north loop got shrunk a little to take in a temple. I also found a Shuu coffee shop, and some day I'll actually go inside one and find out whether I'm including them for good reason.

I was busy otherwise much of the weekend, but I did go to a the Marunouchi Jean-Paul Hévin Chocolat Bar, which was crowded for the first time ever (perhaps related to them completing the neighboring building, so now there is more people to be walking around that area look for food). They just changed their special, so I went there and had Madeleine Fondue, which is chocolate fondue for

madeleines with whipped cream was excellent. Also had the O de Chocolat Brésil, which was excellent. I also had halves of two chocolate macarons, which is maybe not enough to judge (I'm not sure even a whole macaron is enough to judge) but seemed excellent, the Constanz, which is a Dominican Cacao ganache, and Crioca, which is Brazilian ganache.

Finally, Sunday for lunch, we went to Cafe Landtmann, which is a restaurant in the AO building. Being a restaurant, I wouldn't usually bother with trying to get and review their cake, but they are on the neighborhood course map and they have "Cafe" in their name, so I decided to allow them. It's a fancy place with good atmosphere, both physical and service, but not exceptionally expensive, considering. I got the Landtmanntorte,

figuring that it would be their best, since they've put their name on it, though maybe I should just have considered that other things already had names, so they didn't have the opportunity. Anyway, this has a little chocolate frosting on the outside edge, a top layer of raspberry sauce, more extensive layers of caramel, and a layer of orange cream. The cake part is cinnamon flavor and has an usual consistency, not sponge certainly, but sort of a wet and nutty, maybe, sort of solid without being hard. It was definitely good, but I should have gone with something with more chocolate. The other dessert was not cake, it was Marillen Palatschinken, which the English explains as Viennese apricot pancakes, though they are crêpes, as the Japanese clearly states.

Cake-off: Très Calme's Pistache Apricot over Frédéric Cassel's Choux Vanille

Took the afternoon off and started by getting Très Calme's Pistache Apricot from Isetan, where they did have their specialty, a Mont-Blanc, this time. The latter should have warned me, even though my longer memory had failed, that I was going to run into trouble running to En Vedette in the afternoon, because the cake of the same name, their specialty, was sold out. I do need to get new cake from them, and they had lots of cake, but I was already committed to a cake-off. Already wet and cold, from there I ran to Ginza Mitsukoshi, which has the other available great cakes needing a second round. I tried the Choux Vanille from F. Cassel first, since that definitely sells out as well and it was already past 4 pm, and was finally successful.

Though it looks like a mismatch, this Choux wouldn't be in the great list, with one win, if it couldn't hold its own. However, Pistache Apricot is also definitely great, so I had to choose. I decided to go for the heavy fruity tart over light vanille simplicity, but I could eat another Choux Vanille, no problem. These are great cakes.

Très Calme, Fraise Citron

Recently, I promoted Très Calme to excellent and it was time for another new cake from them, though I've been focused on very good shops and other priorities before taking care of the excellent ones. However, since they are visiting Isetan right now, which is convenient, I decided to get cake from them today, their first day (they will stay through the 14th, the usual period being disrupted by the White Day holiday). They do have cake at Isetan, but only half the display space (again, White Day), so there were only four cakes. One was Pistache Apricot, which I was happy to see, because I want it for a cake-off, though I was surprised not to see their signature Mont-Blanc. Instead the other three cakes were Exquis, which is high-end chocolate and excellent and so even though I've had it from them before, it was labeled as an Isetan exclusive, so it's not currently in the regular line-up apparently; a cake I asked about and seemed to have too much coffee for me, and Fraise Citron, which is actually a verrine, not my favorite form of fresh "cake". For running, I tried again to do the Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop. I did the first turn correctly, but it put me on something that was just a footpath squeezed between buildings, not even an alley, so I'm revising the map to go around it, even though it will have me doubling back. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow in the evening. In the early afternoon, which I'm taking off, I plan to go back for the Pistache Apricot and then make a run to En Vedette for their namesake cake for an early cake-off. It's under 10 km, so I can go out again later, though I have other more serious things to do tomorrow. I had planned to go to P. Ces Jours, but perhaps next Wednesday.

For a verrine, or even for a strawberry-based cake, the Fraise Citron was definitely good and this shop remains firmly in excellent. If they win their cake-off, though, I think I'll pass on the coffee-based cake and make a trip out to the main shop, unless I find that they vary the Isetan line-up over time. There is also a limited time Sadaharu Aoki cake at Isetan, so I'll be back there as least twice during Très Calme's run, I think.

Bien-être: Mille-Feuille au Fraises

Monday, in light rain, I went to Bien-être (double points) in response to a cake-off win for a new cake. There wasn't actually a new variety, but I had never had the Mille-Feuille au Fraises, which is much like theother five mille-feuille cakes I've had there, except with strawberries (not sure which one was the best, so I'll guess mango). All the ones previous had been excellent, though my appreciation was diminishing. This time, it dipped below excellent, though it's still pretty, and good, but not one I'm interested in having again. The run was my first attempt to verify the revised Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop. I could do the main parts but missed a sharp turn to take in AfterHours, an early turn to reach the main road to run past the pedestrian bridge next to the Cosmo Hatsudai Service Station, and a detour away from Sanguubashi Park to hook around Flotto, all fairly new additions. The second deviation was at least was an improvement and I've updated the map, but I need to fix the other too for next time.

Tuesday, with a break in the rain, I did a short run down to Tokyo Midtown and successfully got the Croissant Matcha from Sadaharu Aoki. The eating space was occupied by a promotional event for some communication company, so I ran it home. As part of the run, I reconfirmed clockwise the Minami-Aoyama east loop with a minor variation to take in NinoCaffe. They'll be a good backup in the future, since they have relatively late hours, such as for Viking Bakery F, which requires me to get off work on time and not spend too much time changing and stretching. The croissant was very nice, and matcha is an interesting change (the inside is quite green), so I can say that it was excellent.

Café Le Cordon Bleu, Opéra au Thé Vert

Sunday was rain but not so much or so cold that I couldn't run. It did stop me from taking photos along the way, but I did some reconnaissance along the way that made the trip a little longer. My goal was to get a new cake from Paris S'éveille, in response to a cake-off win. Previously they had two new cakes that I was not excited about, because they were coffee flavored, but I've had another similar cake with coffee and tonka beans and it was fine. At the shop, though, they only had one that was coffee cream on coffee gelatin, which I'm pretty sure would make me sick, so I gave up. I'll check again next month (actually, I'll probably be back before that for a cake-off, since they have so many great cakes). I've had plenty of pastries from there (including great ones), so I'm not stiffing them on what they are due in terms of number of items tried. Still need to get back to the two cake-off winners after that, but they're both open after work on a workday.

Instead, I ran back and stopped at Café Le Cordon Bleu, which is one of the shops I've labeled as quite good based on only two cakes. The cake I choose as the third was Opéra au Thé Vert, which is chocolate and chocolate. It was mostly green tea, and maybe its legitimate for it too seem watery, since so is green tea, but I don't find that acceptable in cake. My experience with green tea is maybe too limited (I tend to drink the same cheap stuff at work every day) for the nuance of the chocolate to get through. I've going to give this the benefit of the doubt and say it was okay, since it was reasonable, but the shop goes straight to the good group, where I'll probably never hear from it again, since it's going to be a long time before I'll want fourth cakes from Tokyo cake shops that are just average. Next in the list of holiday only places: Ces Jours. Actually, I only have a few to go, and not so many workday-accessible ones.

Cake-off: Ladurée's Plaisir Sucré over Yu Sasage's Ardèche

Friday night, I tried again to get the Matcha Croissant from Sadaharu Aoki at Roppongi, but they were sold out. In good news, they had the new seasonal cakes, right on schedule (the main seasonal change is every 3 months, whereas I'm not sure when JPH well change, so I have to keep watching, though the café menu has). I also decided that the Nino Caffe next to Nogizaka Station deserves to be on the neighborhood course, so that loop needs a slight adjustment. I didn't get cake from Sadaharu Aoki, since it wasn't a cake day, but got a Cinnamon Raison Roll from Cinnabon near Roppongi Hills. It was okay. I should have microwaved it; I knew better. Notice that it isn't doused in frosting. The guy at the register seemed to have never heard of it and had to take the sign I pointed at and ask someone else. It's not a regular menu item, apparently.

Met someone in the morning, so I set off a little before noon for running. I limited myself to just a few pictures to add to the neighborhood map. I like to break up the run a little, but figured I didn't have much time, since I wanted specifically Ardèche from Yu Sasage. I would have gone to Ces Jours if that had failed and done a cake-off tomorrow. I took the train back as far as Shinjuku Station and got Plaisir Sucré from the Ladurée there (which still has take out, even though they eliminated the seating). Ardèche was relatively subtle next to the brute force of Plaisir Sucré, which I gave the win. I think Ardèche maybe doesn't need to be on the great list. As much as I like this type, I have enough already on the list that I like better, tough this was definitely excellent.

After lunch and tea and cakes (and a rest to update my map), I went out again around 4 pm and tried to capture photos of some missing sites and found a few new sites as well, so needed more time to adjust the map. The Moto-Azabu--Roppongi loop has gotten rather convoluted. This chocolate shop is probably the most important addition. Still shows up as a luxury fashion shop on Google Maps.