The first Paul bakery opened in Lille, France in 1889. Since then Paul has expanded throughout France and Europe. 119 years later, the world famous French bakery finds its way to South Florida.

The bakery and restaurant are a heavenly delight and welcome change from the typical South Florida fare. Breads and pastries (including delightful tarts, cakes and pies) are baked fresh daily on premise.

My first experience with Paul was more than twenty years ago in Paris. Needless to say, I was giddy with excitement when I heard about the planned location on Lincoln Road. After a six month wait, the Mark's List gang finally got a taste of the good life. We sampled Flan Normand, apples and custard topped with roasted almonds, Tarte Aux Fruits Rouges, a mixed berry tart and a Fleur de Lys made with dark chocolate and crunchy praliné cake. Everything exceeded our expectations. What more can you say about a legendary patisserie?

We also bought a loaf of bread, Le Pain de campagne, a.k.a country bread. We ate it plain, toasted it, drank wine with it and poached eggs as if we were having breakfast. The bread was excellent and again exceeded our expectations in every situation. Sounds like we think we're think we're working for Consumer Reports, huh? Well, we take our recommendations seriously.

While the menu is loaded with bread, tarts, pies and cakes, you'll also find crépes, sundaes and a variety of fresh pressed juices. They also sell about twenty different delicious looking sandwiches and one day, after we get fat from all of the pastries, we'll let you know what we think about them! Even the beverages take on a French flair, Orangina, Perrier and Evian are the drinks of choice. There's also espresso, tea, café Americano , and like in France, you won't find Pepsi, the fountain is all about Coke products.

So far the United States locations include, Lincoln Road, Biscayne Commons, Aventura, Palm Beach Gardens and Sawgrass Mills. Yeah, we scratched our heads when we noticed Sawgrass Mills. What can you do?