The first entry is the one from that post. It is from a chain bakery called Paul. It was amazing! A good chunky almond filling and a nice amount of chocolate. It was a bit too greasy though--the bottom of the croissant was really soggy by the time I ate it.
The second entry is from a place I like quite a lot located two tram stops away (read: a nice sunny afternoon walk away). It is called Maison des Pains, and has both nice indoor and outdoor seating, as well as great sandwich and pastry combos. Perfect for an afternoon of reading/studying/soaking up sun. Sadly though, the chocolate-almond croissant got a decided "Eh." The contribution of the almond flavor was almost totally limited to the almonds on top (sorry, no picture-it didn't make it through the walk home...). The inside contained a very vaguely almond flavored custard and not enough chocolate.
The third entry: Fournil St. Nicolas, another chain. I am withholding judgment on this one as my first chocolate-almond croissant from here was also my first burned pastry in France. FAIL. I will, however, give the place another chance as it is the one nearest my dorm and I am hoping that it is good :) I liked the not-burned parts! Here they also called the chocolate-almond croissant an Amandine, but that doesn't seem to be a standard name, so this will not become the Amandine challenge.
Those are the only three I have been able to try so far. Don't worry though--I'm not limiting my pastry intake to occasions when I can find a chocolate-almond croissant. I am sampling a broad range :) I just hope I don't become a broad range myself...
Sounds like the best experiment ever. I hope you're keeping a scientific notebook too! If you need someone to be an independent judge, you could mail it to me :-)
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