The French are known for their impeccable cooking and baking so of course, when I was in Paris, I wanted to be like the French even if it was only for  a moment. To do this, I took a cooking class with La Cuisine Paris, which is something you should surely treat yourself too if you’re not sure what to buy in Paris.

I opted for the baguette baking class so I could pull the baguette out of the oven, hold it next to my ear, and gently press down to hear the crisp and the crunch— the telltale sign of a well done baguette.

From the moment I stepped into the school to when I ate the baguette at night, this class made my time in Paris a memorable one, and in turn, became a must-do when visiting Paris.

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Cooking Class in Paris at La Cuisine Paris

As soon as I took one step into the school, the ladies at the front desk greeted me warmly as if I were walking into a friend’s home. Any worries I had about taking an activity as a solo traveler went out the window when the receptionists broke the ice by asking everyone’s name and where they were from.

The class was largely American and filled with solo travelers so I felt quite comfortable. I quickly learned that this was a great way to meet like-minded solo travelers on a solo trip!

Guillame, the Great Instructor

Shortly after meeting everyone, we met Guillame, our instructor for the afternoon. Schooled in Lyon, the gastronomy capital of the world, Guillame was more than just a talented chef. He was a great instructor that guided us step by step on how to get the perfect baguette with that crisp and crunch sound I was looking for.

Guillame was also unapologetically French and didn’t hold back if we needed to reshape our breads or knead the dough again. His honesty and quick wit made the learning experience real as it could get while being quite amusing.

In addition to a great instructor, the school had prepped all the ingredients we would need so the class moved along flawlessly. For example, the yeast mixture needed to sit out for a minimum of 12 hours to get the taste and rise we wanted in the baguette so of course, instead of skipping out on this, the school prepped it beforehand.

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Tips & Tricks of Baking

Even though we had the recipe to follow along as we baked, Guillame gave us tips and tricks that you wouldn’t find anywhere on a recipe. You could only learn these kind of tips from a real live instructor.

For example, to check if these little buns were done, Guillame said to check the bottom of it for the color. Hence, why some of these are flipped over in the picture!

Also, to get that crisp and crunch sound I wanted from the baguette, Guillame taught us to spray the oven with water to get it steamy. This way, the baguette and breads become toasty on the outside while maintaining soft on the inside.

One of the more fun parts about this class (besides eating throughout it) was learning how to make different types of baguettes such as the traditional cut or the dragon. This is where the creativity came in!

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Becoming a Baking Queen

In our three hour baking class, we each made two fougasses and two baguettes to bring home. After my breads came out so well, I deemed myself the baking queen all thanks to La Cuisine Paris.

The best part about this class was that we got to eat multiple times throughout the class because what would a cooking class in Paris be if you didn’t get to eat the food you made fresh out of the oven?  MMMMM is all I have to say.

Of course, this deterred my plans for a proper lunch after class– boo hoo (not really…).

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Local Recommendations

This baguette making class at La Cuisine Paris was more than just a class. At the end, while we were waiting for the last of our breads to bake, Guillame gave us a ton of recommendations for Parisian restaurants and stores to buy the best ingredients for home cooking. He even gave us a handy map with everything on it.

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Helpful Sites

For a three hour class learning how to make two different types of breads, a talented instructor with lots of know-hows beyond the recipe, and personal recommendations for where to eat and shop, I consider this cooking class in Paris at La Cuisine Paris a must-do. Now if I’m actually going to make baguettes at home is a different story…

La Cuisine Paris’ Classes

Address: 80 Quai de l’Hotel de Ville, 75004 Paris,France (Google Maps)
Phone Number: +33 1 40 51 78 18

La Cuisine Paris offers cooking and baking classes and food tours around Paris. The classes include but aren’t limited to French macarons, baguettes, bistrot lunches, croissants, and technical classes. The food tours include but aren’t limited to Les Halles food tour, cheese and wine food tour, pastry tour, and food tour in Versailles.

Yelp and TripAdvisor

La Cuisine Paris has rightfully gotten 5 stars across all travel review sites. On TripAdvisor, they got the #1 food & drink activity in Paris with 1,620 reviews!

You might like: Off the Beaten Path Paris

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Would you consider taking this baguette class or any other of La Cuisine Paris’ cooking class? Have any must-dos I must do when I go back to Paris? Let me know!

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This post was written in collaboration with La Cuisine Paris but all opinions are my own. La Cuisine Paris is really that awesome. Otherwise they wouldn’t be on my blog so go check them out!

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