Marveling at the petites merveilles on a Paris street corner

Meringue and whipped cream cakes brighten a rainy day

Bonjour! Bonjour!

I always say that I’m best self when I’m home in Paris, but if that’s true, then my best self can be pretty grumpy. The other morning, I woke up, looked out the window and grumbled and railed against what I had no control over: The weather. It was raining. Again. It was also 7-something in the morning, so it was dark — the autumn sun comes up late and even though I’ve lived here a long time, it still surprises me. (Soon it won’t get light until almost 9 am.)

Morning view

Yet early morning is one of my favorite times to get out — despite the rumble of delivery trucks and the swish of street cleaners’ brooms, it feels quiet, like the city’s stretching and getting in shape for the day. The other morning, out for a croissant run, I turned down the boulevard Saint Germain and into the rue l’Ancienne Comédie, which was mostly dark and quite dreary in the rain. But there, at the end of the short street, as though lowered to earth by some extra-planetary architect, was a spot o…