A piece of France in The Hague...

 

or the search for the perfect macaron. I am not sure if I've told you before but I am crazy about macarons. I love the fluffy, crispy outside in contrast with the creamy or fruity inside. I love how they are such a beautiful thing to look at and then, even better to eat. So, as for the ice-cream, we were sure we wanted to have some at our wedding.

And since Holland is not France, you can imagine the little things are not so easy to find. We tried first at a big department store that I shall not mention here, and their macarons were awful. Hard, dry, and without flavor. So we kept our eyes open for bakeries, chocolate-shops... and one day, in Amsterdam we found a candy shop where the macarons were just perfect. I am telling you now, you should keep this address. They have chocolate and truffles (which we also tried) and all kinds of cake and it is worth it.  Huize van Wely is in the Beethovenstraat, a fancy shopping street.

(Source)

 We thought we had found our place, but since they are in Amsterdam, it was going to be complicated to go there one day before D-day so we kept it as a backup plan option and kept looking. It is a good thing that we love to walk and walk and walk in cities because that is how we find things. Without looking. I remember it was a sunny day in the beginning of the summer, maybe in July, when we stumbled upon "Le Gone"(Noordeinde 200c in The Hague). Stepping in the little shop is like being inmediately in France. His owner, Rodolphe, makes you feel at home, always cheerful, friendly and up for a chat. You can find all kinds of french delicatessen, the best eclaires, baguette, of course, Tarte au citron, moelleux au chocolat (Chocolate fudge cake, thanks Marcela), croissants, plenty of cheese and wine, obviously, and local french products like petit suisse pots, which remind me of my student days. And you guessed it, macarons. Delicious and perfect just as they should be. Since our "theme" (if we ever had one) was something on the lines of 'let's-get-all-the-sweet-stuff-that-we-can', aside from the macarons we also had a lemon tart (that was supposed to be for my mom, who had her birthday one day before our wedding) and a chocolate cake. Because we ordered quite a few... he made us a special discount and all. You can go there for lunch, or just take away whatever it is you feel like indulging in. We still go there all the time, or at least everytime we make an excuse for it, which considering how much we like to eat the good stuff, is often.

The address is: Noordeinde 200c
2514GS Den Haag

Update: Come back around 18:30 (Amsterdam time), there will be a surprise waiting for you.

The first photo by Fotoflex, and the second one by our dear friend Celia.