People tell me that traveling for business is not fun. I get it. You hurry to the airport, get strip searched by strangers, are crammed onto a plane, land, go to meetings, rinse, repeat and you’re on a plane back home before you know it. Fortunately, that’s not me. Kidding! I’ll just live vicariously through the rest of my friends who do travel for business. Where am I going with this? I got a present in a small paper bag last evening. A friend who had gone to France returned with a gift. He said “I knew you’d appreciate this.”  I opened the bag to find a giant green thing inside.

A giant green macaron! To be more precise, this was a giant green macaron with pistachio buttercream. Oh my! I asked where he found it. At the airport was the answer. Of course.  This macaron was purchased at PAUL which is a chain bakery with locations in Europe and Asia.

I’m used to the macarons that are just smaller than the size of an Oreo cookie so this was a treat. But how well did it hold up after it’s trip halfway around the world? Well, despite having traveled in someone’s carry-on for more than 12 hours, the outside of the macaron still had a slightly crispness to it. The inside was very soft and cake-like. The filling had melted and gone a bit runny but still had a nice subtle pistachio flavor to it. Fortunately, most of it stayed on the inside of the macaron. I’m not ashamed to say that I ate the frosting that stuck to the bag. It was kind of like eating an ice cream sandwich almost. Creamy, sweet and sticky. Very tasty nevertheless!

So as far as business travel goes, I totally can appreciate how energy draining it can be. But it’s always nice to be thought of, especially when it comes to nifty treats. So if you happen to be traveling through France and come across giant macarons in the airport, they’re always welcome with me!