The French Bakery

There's a neat little French bakery near the Pushkinskaya metro stop. D's been trying to take me there for weeks. He enrolled in a weekend psychology class in that part of town and likes to stop in for a bite to eat afterwards. "Katya" he says, "they have the most delicious cake ever!" This coming from a man who prefers fruit to chocolate?!- obviously I had to go investigate the cake for myself.

View from the street.

This gigantic sign is in the entryway.

Look for the big Eiffel tower in the window.

The French bakery is very small and narrow. There's plenty of space to devour a pastry but you'll have to do it standing. This keeps the bakery pretty fast-paced because most people don't want to linger over a cup of coffee while standing up (but you're welcome to do so).

Here it is- the cake:

"Napoleon" cake. I have to agree with D- it is quite good!

The BEST thing about this bakery?
The prices- it's cheap! Two slices of cake, a glass of juice, and a cup of tea only cost 30 grivna. That's practically the price of a single cup of tea at the Coffee Life chain (the Ukrainian version of Starbucks).

All this freshly-baked bread? About 20 grivna!

Again, the bakery is near the Pushkin metro stop. Perhaps you remember Alexander Pushkin from one of my early posts? If not- he was a poet and novelist, he liked chasing women and fighting duels, and he loved gambling. Every single Ukrainian or Russian between the ages of 4 and 100 can quote him on the spot. You'll see lots of references to him near this metro stop. (You may also stumble across the nearby "Sherlock Holmes Pub"...Holmes is another national obsession.)

Mural on the side of a building near the bakery. It probably depicts his story "The Queen of Spades".

"What is life? A game" or maybe "That our life is a game".

Another painting- found directly in front of the liquor shop.