Booking choice: The baguette and financier class, from $108 per person. Check dates Class details
The Grand Prix de la baguette de tradition française de la Ville de Paris is the city's own bread contest. The 2026 round was the 33rd, and the jury tasted 143 baguettes before naming a winner on 26 February 2026.
The prize is cash and a contract with a famous customer: the presidential palace. This post covers the winner, the top ten, the rules, the 1993 decree behind the word "tradition", and where you can bake one yourself.
The quick answer
The best baguette in Paris 2026 comes from Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan of Fournil Didot, 103 rue Didot, Paris 14th. He wins €4,000 and supplies tradition baguettes to the Élysée Palace for a year. A baguette de tradition may only contain wheat flour, water, salt and yeast or levain, and may not be frozen, under a decree of 13 September 1993.
Who won the best baguette in Paris in 2026?
Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan of Fournil Didot, 103 rue Didot in the 14th arrondissement. It was his first time entering.
The City of Paris lists ten bakers honoured out of 143 baguettes entered. Jegatheepan arrived in France in 2003, started in pastry in 2008 and opened his own bakery in 2018. His secret, he says, is fermentation: 14 hours at 5 °C. "I still can't believe it, it's a huge responsibility," he told Ara, which puts his tradition baguette at €1.30.
Fournil Didot opens 6:30 to 20:30, Monday to Saturday, and closes on Sunday, per Le Bonbon.
| # | Bakery | Address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fournil Didot | 103 rue Didot, 14th |
| 2 | Boulangerie B&S Nation | 24 place de la Nation, 12th |
| 3 | L'Écrin Gourmand | 15 avenue du Dr Arnold Netter, 12th |
| 4 | Maison Daguet | 175 rue de la Convention, 15th |
| 5 | Boulangerie Laurent B. | 112 rue Saint-Dominique, 7th |
| 6 | Boulangerie Guyot Ferreira | 28 rue Monge, 5th |
| 7 | Maison Leparq | 6 rue de Lourmel, 15th |
| 8 | Boulangerie Moderne Rabineau | 16 rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques, 5th |
| 9 | Aux Délices de Glacière | 90 boulevard Auguste Blanqui, 13th |
| 10 | Au Paradis du Gourmand | 156 rue Raymond Losserand, 14th |
What does the winner of the Paris baguette prize get?
€4,000, and a year as the official supplier of tradition baguettes to the Élysée Palace.
The city confirms the €4,000 award. The Élysée contract is the part that makes the news: for one year the winner becomes "le fournisseur officiel des baguettes tradition de l'Élysée", as Le Bonbon puts it. Bread for the president's table, in other words, comes from a corner bakery in the 14th until the next winner is named.
For you, it means one bakery in Paris sells the bread the president eats.
How is the Paris baguette competition judged?
On five criteria: appearance, taste, bake, crumb and the holes in it. The jury also checks size and salt.
The jury was chaired by Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, deputy mayor in charge of commerce and crafts. It mixes trade federations, journalists and Parisians drawn by lot, which means anyone living in Paris can apply to judge. Size is a hard filter: the city says the winning loaf met the contest criteria of 250 to 255 g and 55 to 60 cm. A loaf outside the limits is out, whatever it tastes like.
Nothing is wasted. The baguettes left over after the tasting went to the charity La Chorba.
| Criterion | What the jury looks at |
|---|---|
| Appearance | The crust and the shape |
| Taste | The flavour of the bread |
| Bake | How well it is baked |
| Crumb | The inside of the loaf |
| Alveolage | The holes in the crumb |
| Size and salt | Checked against the rules |
What is a baguette de tradition, and what does the 1993 decree say?
A baguette made only from wheat flour, drinking water, salt and baker's yeast or levain, never frozen and with no additives. Decree no. 93-1074 of 13 September 1993 sets the rules.
The decree, signed under Prime Minister Édouard Balladur, protects two names. "Pain maison" may only be used for bread kneaded, shaped and baked where it is sold. "Pain de tradition française" must be made from wheat flour, water and salt, fermented with yeast and/or levain, with no freezing at any stage and no additives (text of the decree, FAOLEX). Three tiny exceptions are allowed, as shares of the flour weight: 2% broad bean flour, 0.5% soy flour and 0.3% wheat malt flour.
The plain baguette is outside these limits. A tradition usually costs 20 to 30 centimes more, per The Local. Ask for "une tradition" and most Parisian bakers will know exactly what you mean.
| Baguette de tradition | Plain baguette | |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredients | Flour, water, salt, yeast or levain | Not limited by the decree |
| Additives | None (tiny bean, soy, malt flour shares) | Allowed |
| Frozen dough | Never | Allowed |
| Price | 20 to 30 centimes more | Cheaper |
| How to order | "Une tradition" | "Une baguette" |
Bake baguettes and brown-butter financiers in a working neighbourhood bakery, and take both home.
Check dates for the baguette and financier classWho won the Paris baguette prize in 2025, and what about Greater Paris?
In 2025, Mickaël Reydellet of La Parisienne in the 10th, out of 187 entries. The separate 2026 Greater Paris prize went to Clément Poncet in Rosny-sous-Bois.
The city's 2025 press release names Reydellet of La Parisienne, 12 rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, as the 32nd winner, announced on 27 March 2025. The same bakery placed second in the 2025 Greater Paris butter croissant contest, which tells you something about its laminating.
Do not mix up the two contests. The Greater Paris traditional baguette prize is a different competition, and its 2026 winner was named on 10 May at the Fête du Pain on the Notre-Dame forecourt: Clément Poncet of Les Caprices de Maelle, in Rosny-sous-Bois (Sortir à Paris).
| Contest | Year | Winner | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Paris Grand Prix | 2026 | Fournil Didot | Paris 14th |
| City of Paris Grand Prix | 2025 | La Parisienne | Paris 10th |
| Greater Paris tradition | 2026 | Les Caprices de Maelle | Rosny-sous-Bois |
Can you learn to bake a baguette in Paris?
Yes. Four classes on this site put a baguette in your hands, from a 1.5-hour bakery class to a bakery tour with breakfast. Only some of them make croissants too.
The baguette and financier class is the pure bread choice: baguettes and brown-butter financiers in a working bakery in Montmartre or the Marais, 1.5 hours, from $108. It makes no croissants. Le Petit Mitron on rue Oberkampf has you bake a classic baguette and the house La Parisse, and shape croissants, from $246. The bakery tour at Miss Manon shows how a baguette is made and ends with a croissant breakfast you eat rather than bake. The working bakery class covers bread and croissant dough and baguette shaping, from $102.
If croissants are the goal, start with the best croissant class in Paris.
| Class | You bake | Length | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baguette and financiers | Baguettes, financiers | 1.5 h | $108 |
| Le Petit Mitron | Two baguettes, croissants | 2 h | $246 |
| Bakery tour | A baguette; croissants for breakfast | 2 h | $120 |
| Working bakery class | Bread and croissant dough | 2 h | $102 |
Baguettes and financiers in a real neighbourhood bakery, six bakers at most, both boxed up to take home.
Explore the baguette and financier class Class detailsFrequently asked questions
Who has the best baguette in Paris in 2026?
Fournil Didot, 103 rue Didot in the 14th. Its owner, Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan, won the 33rd Grand Prix de la baguette de tradition française de la Ville de Paris on 26 February 2026.
What does the best baguette in Paris win?
€4,000 from the City of Paris and a year as the official supplier of tradition baguettes to the Élysée Palace.
What is the difference between a baguette and a tradition?
A tradition follows the 1993 decree: only wheat flour, water, salt and yeast or levain, no additives and no frozen dough. It usually costs 20 to 30 centimes more.
Does the baguette class also make croissants?
No. The baguette and financier class makes baguettes and financiers only. Le Petit Mitron and the working bakery class cover croissant dough as well.
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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Baguette and Financier Class in a Local Bakery
Baguettes and brown-butter financiers, not croissants
Bread and Croissant Class in a Family Bakery
- Croissant shaping and two baguettes with the baker
- All ingredients, utensils and an apron
- English, French, Japanese or Spanish
Behind the Scenes Bakery Tour with Breakfast
See the ovens, bake a baguette, then eat croissants
