First day of Spring: Jour du Macaron!

Growing up in Pennsylvania, the first day of Spring was always highly anticipated for one big reason: Free Ice.

Rita’s, an Italian ice chain popular along the East Coast, would always re-open on the first day of Spring and celebrate by giving away free Italian ice all day. It didn’t matter if the skies were gray, the wind was howling and it in no way felt like Spring — lining up for your free Rita’s (then possibly driving to another Rita’s and getting another) was a yearly tradition that, for us Yorkers, meant Spring had finally arrived.

In Paris, I learned of a similar tradition: Jour du Macaron. Started six years ago by the master of macarons himself, Pierre Hermé, on this day you can walk into any of his eponymous pastry shops, or several other participating patisseries, and receive a free macaron. Although the macaron is complimentary, you can donate money if you wish; this year all the money goes to support charity Autistes Sans Frontières.

With such a sweet (ha!) deal, I expected long lines at my local Pierre Hermé. Luckily I live in a quieter neighborhood, and only had two ladies in front of me (though the first one took her time — I watched as she forked out over €100 on macarons!)

I’m told there are even certain flavors that are only available and made specially for this day. I decided to go with the Mahogany (salted caramel, coconut, and mango compote) — and, because I can’t have just one, I also nabbed the Eden (peach, apricot, and saffron).

The entire list of the 25 macarons available is impressive, and includes quite a few non-traditional flavor combinations: Wild rose, fig and foie gras; chocolate and Earl Grey tea; even balsamic vinaigrette!

While the two macarons I chose were not as mind-blowingly amazing as the salted caramel I usually go for, I felt good for donating to charity, and I always feel quite content after treating myself to Pierre Hermé. And to top it all off: unlike previous years, today was a beautiful sunny day that actually felt like Spring!

I don’t know what is it about the vernal equinox that makes companies want to give away free sweets, but I can’t think of any better way to start off the season. Happy first day of Spring, everyone!