About 25 years ago, a family owned bakery opened here in town by the name of Maison Cherry. The master baker was a family member who had trained in Paris. I got to know the family quite well, especially the eldest daughter who had studied English, used the English name Cherry and liked to chat when I went in.
The bakery made many cakes which didn’t interest me but also made great French bread of several types – pain de campagne, boule de pain, etc and real croissants. The one thing they didn’t do was baguettes. I asked why and was told it was because ‘people here don’t understand them’. They had trialled them but got tired of people coming back next day complaining they had gone stale too quickly.
But, for about four years, I lived happily. They reserved me a loaf every couple of days and called me when it was ready. Then, one day, I was passing their bakery shop and it was closed. Permanently. I tried to call the daughter but her phone service had been cancelled. They just disappeared. I’ve never been able to find out what happened.
Their store is now a Chinese KFC knock-off. I weep.
