How many croissants do French people actually eat?

... I think I have the answer.

I love croissants. They’re my favourite thing to get at a French bakery. And they’re right up there with cheese and bread as my favourite French foods.

The other day, while eating a particularly delicious one, I found myself wondering how popular croissants are among French people.

Or more precisely, how often does the typical French person eat one? If you search online there aren’t any clear answers.

In Paris, there are so many bakeries, and so many pastry-hungry tourists skewing the statistics, that it’s quite impossible to make any kind of accurate guess for the French people.

But right now I’m in the south of France, in a very small seaside village called Bouzigues (and it’s quite lovely here, that’s it pictured below)… but more importantly, I think I figured out the answer.

You see, there’s only one local bakery in a town of 1,200 people… and it’s the off season meaning there aren’t any tourists here. The stage is set for a perfect calculation.

So I went in to the bakery this morning, at 10am exactly, and the baker told me that he had just sold out of the day’s croissants. I asked him how many he had made. He said 200.

Two hundred?! I couldn’t believe it. I would have guessed way fewer. It was quite a small bakery.

But that means we have an answer. 200 croissants for 1,200 people equals one croissant for every six people, at least on a typical off-season October day in the south of France.

Mystery solved, right?

Or is it?

Are Fridays different? Are Octobers special? Is Bouzigues a croissant-loving village? Do the same people buy croissants each day or is the vibe more: croissant today, something else tomorrow?

Who knows. But one croissant every day per six people sounds about right to me. What do you think? Feel free to leave some thoughts in the comments section below. Food for thought.

In other news, this week on the podcast I took listeners to the Champagne region of France. The perfect day trip. A quick train ride, an old town, a drive through the countryside, a few glasses of Champagne, and a magnificent tour of a classic and a private vineyard. And then back to Paris. If you’re going to book a similar trip, do it via My Private Paris and tell ‘em I sent you :)

And lastly, are you an American thinking of moving to Paris? My friends over at FranceEntrée are putting on a free webinar that is literally made for you. With a team of experts, they're going to discuss everything from finances, visas, the French property market, and how to secure a mortgage.

The webinar will be on Thursday, November 7th at 6pm EDT. Can't attend live? Sign up anyway and they'll send you the recording afterwards. And did I mention: this is all free! Register here.

That’ll do for now, have a lovely weekend. Why not have a croissant? I know I will. If they haven’t sold out already…

Oh yes: Incidentally, this has been an epic trip to the south of France. Sete, Carcassonne, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Apt, Buoux… Want to hear more about it? Here’s my offer: If there are at least 64 comments right here on Substack saying some form of “Do it”, then I’ll share more about this trip (pics, podcast, posts). If there aren’t 64 comments or more, a totally random number incidentally, then I’ll take it as a “thanks but no thanks” and I’ll let the trip stay as a little holiday. The ball’s in your court.

Oliver