Paris S'éveille: Tarte aux Fruits Noir and Pont Neuf

Walked to Paris S'éveille, as planned, averaging almost exactly 6 km/h. Coming back was slower, but still closer to 6 km/h than 5 km/h. Next exercise plan is go to track and try a kilometer at 7 km/h again.

At Paris S'éveille got one "fresh cake", the Tarte aux Fruits Noir for 600 yen, and one "pastry" (my terms) , the Pont Neuf for 450 yen. Both of these are good, but nothing special that I would want them again.

The picture of the tarte didn't work out, but came out super bright, as it tried to use the really dark fruit as a light reference maybe. It was blackberries and a dark blueberry or something similar on a custard tart. Good fruit, but I want cake and the tart doesn't really add anything (I'd rather eat each alone). This was the "Chef"'s (their term) recommendation, or I would have gone for the pistachio eclair. One more not-excellent cake before a great one and I'd have to demote them, and the other unsampled cake is another fruit tart. However, I've left out the Fondant, which I count as fresh cake (although it has a separate display) and I'm optimistic about.

The Pont Neuf is a standard type that I see around patisseries but have never tried before. It's sort of a butter tart with a baked custard dome (not solid custard, but more like the inside of a canele). Also, there was a lump of fruit baked inside the bottom, maybe apricot, as well as some fruity (?) glaze.

Photos of the shop were also poor, so instead I got one of the entrance to a shrine that is an official sightseeing point in Meguro District (#55) that I've often seen the edge of just off my main route but not the entrance. Now that I've found it, sometime I'll actually go in to see the old trees and statues.

Yoshinori Asami: Zebra

Walking and condition same as yesterday, started (from Yotsuya Sanchoume Station) with 6.26 km in just over an hour with some soreness but without seeming to strain anything.

Been a while since I was this far north, to P. Yoshinori Asami, where I got Zebra for 500 yen. It's alternating biscuit (maybe almond based) and (praliné?) ganache under chocolate glazing. It was good chocolate cake, but not any better than that. Disappointing compared to the two cakes of his I had via Isetan (which I did not see in the shop). Could be that higher-class stuff is sold at Isetan or could just be that the cakes during a heatwave (tho here only 35 degC, the heat being centered in the west) or summer generally are different. Parfaits seem to be more popular now. The piece of (actual) coffee cake (for eating in) was okay with me. I may get used to coffee someday. 

Went on to visit Kappabashi Street to see kitchen stuff, which ended up making the walk 23 km. So, guess I'm okay to do a round trip to Jiyugaoka.

Friday night, Dalloyau: Vanille Fraise

Walked 6 km/h for 6 km (so, the long but nice way) for a Vanille Fraise from Dalloyau, vanilla cream and strawberry compote combined with white chocolate (there's a thin square visible in the middle) sandwiched between between pink dacquoise, for 594 yen.

As usual, leg tendon was a little sore from previous walk, tried not to over-do it, walked back slower, again avoiding straining, and seemed okay but a little sore the next day (but no burning).

Park still crowded with zombies, but got a better seat. This was excellent. More something I would want for someone else than myself, but a really nice strawberry flavor that I don't get too often. The dacquoise was soft enough to cut with a spoon without the cream completely squirting out, though a little dangerous eating without a plate.

Sucre-rie: Framboise Chocolat

Walked to a new shop. Speed was definitely around 6 km/h for the first 2 km, but no timing after that. Probably slower the next, while I ate a delicious croissant from P. Shima, and then maybe faster, but slow enough not to strain anything. I'll try farther definitely 6 km/h tomorrow night, if things go as planned.

The shop is Sucre-rie in Nihonbashiningyōchō. Sign on the door at 4:30-ish was that they were sold out of cream puffs, so that is presumably one of their specialties. Not much looked tempting, but a few. I tried Framboise Chocolate, for 500 yen, which is chocolate mousse with raspberry-flavored cream. As chocolate mousse goes, that part was good, though not something I need anymore. The raspberry cream in the middle was sufficiently generous (often you get a tiny amount of cream center in chocolate mousse cakes), but didn't really make it special. Also, it was a little painfully sweet, but I would forgive that, taking into consideration that it could be expected to be eaten with some usual beverage, such as milk or tea, but at the end I hit a tiny piece of bland spongish cake (probably a base), which seemed completely out of place (I would expect something crisp or crunchy), so I'm rating this just okay, so probably will never get back there. This is why going to new places stopped being my main aim.

Got a picture. Should have gotten closer, though don't like to stand in the middle of the street.

Henri le Roux: chocolates

Little sore, but hope special midweek afternoon walk still okay, at least 5 km/h. No cake or running, but got two chocolates from Henri le Roux. These were both excellent, so I'm beginning to see the appeal but have my hands full focusing on fresh cake: Praliné a L'ancienne, which is crunchy amond and hazelnut homemade style praliné in dark chocolate, and Soizig, which is Bretagne buckwheat flour biscuit with homemade-style praliné in dark chocolate, each for 324 yen. Can't choose between them. 
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Homemade dessert assembles cheesecake tartlette, chocolate ganache (from macaron), and whipped cream (from the rest of the cream for the ganache).

Frédéric Cassel: Tarte Vanille Ghana

Walked too much, although was trying to be good: 1 km at 7 km/h, which was semi-intentional, and then I lowered the next kilometer to 6 km/h; the rest was supposed to be 5 km/h, but really hard to make myself go that slow so another 2.5 at same speed it turns out, after which I stopped timing. Could feel discomfort on the way back, so probably did do 5 km/h then, which, along with a really hot bath (someone likes 43 degC and now I'm used to it, but only soaking about 5 min), maybe fixed things. We'll see tomorrow what the damage is.

Goal was Frédéric Cassel at Ginza Mitsukoshi, where I had unreasonable expectations for Tarte Vanille Ghana, for 648 yen. The web description oversells it, but these mascarpone cheese tarts are really mild, whereas I like my vanilla intense. Still, definitely good and probably excellent, but I'm going to get tired of these minor variations.

Ate in Hibiya Park, which must be a Pokemon Go spot, because there were 50 to 100 times more people than last time, thus the well-lit bench was not available..

Sucreries Nerd: Framboise Jus (?)

Visited Isetan on last day of Sucreries Nerd and got Framboise Jus (?) for 518 yen. Cake is almond based, and has good texture, there's some kind of custard, and lots of raspberries. Excellent

Did track work, just with 1 km of 6 km/h and maybe 2 km there/back of 5 km/h, to get a feel for the difference.

Now need to deal with pistachio cake disaster.