No Pumpkin Spice for the Parisians
It's the time of year where my social media dashboards and timelines are filled with the same pictures of Pink leggings and Starbuck's signature Pumpkin Spice Latte. Not to be that girl who seems to crave the attention of being different from "other girls", but pumpkin spice anything really does not get my gears going. In the small town that I'm from, if I were to want anything that contained a hint of pumpkin spice, I could only go to one of the two Starbucks inconveniently located inside of a Target or in another county. After moving to France last year, the last thing I was thinking of was pumpkin spice. I love autumn, don't get me wrong. I was born in autumn, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I can rock a good mustard yellow. But, if I want a good hot drink, I go for a good classic mocha. It might also be because my French is not the best so I try to keep it as short and as quick as possible.
Image credits: Shutterstock/Boiarkina Marina
When this year rolled around and September felt closer to autumn than it did last year (and holy moly, was it hot) I began thinking about if whether or not pumpkin spice traveled across the Atlantic, cruised down the Seine and confidently marched its way into the hearts of our patisseries. Walking through the septième from Grenelle to Combes to Passage Landrieu, to wherever, there is almost always a patisserie or boulangerie that makes you want to stop inside during the fifteen minutes between classes. I stopped in patisseries and boulangeries, even stopped to read menu boards at cafés hoping to catch épicere de citrouille. Whether it was between classes, walking from the metro to my apartment, or on the way to pick up the girls I babysit, I could not find somewhere that sold pumpkin spice the way Starbucks seemed to pump it out.
Well, that is except for one. Lili's Restaurant has two shops located in the 2nd and the 6th arrondissement and sells "American homemade foods in Paris" as stated on their Instagram.
My search has fallen quite flat and I have concluded that France does not care one bit about their pumpkin spice lattes, cereals, PopTarts, or whatever. It may not be strictly an American trend, but if you are searching for it in any arrondissement you will probably have your best luck at Starbucks. Although, I do recommend stopping by Lili's Restaurant and trying one of her lattes before you give up altogether and stick to the basics: a scalding café crème.
