Why go
Use this as a quick vocabulary guide when deciding between a bread for a meal and a pastry or dessert for later. A baguette, fougasse and pain de campagne are different bread choices; clafoutis, crème brûlée and tarte Tatin signal quite different finishes.
The full story
Start with the bread. A baguette is the familiar long loaf; a ficelle is slimmer, while pain de campagne points to a country-style loaf. Fougasse is another named bread to look for, especially when comparing a bakery’s savory choices. These names tell you more than a generic “French bread” label. The sweet counter has its own useful landmarks. A croissant or pain au chocolat is a pastry choice, while a madeleine is a small cake. An éclair is filled pastry; mille-feuille stacks pastry and cream. On a dessert menu, crème brûlée, chocolate mousse and tarte Tatin offer very different textures. Clafoutis is a fruit dessert, and pain perdu makes use of bread. Some sweets are tied to occasions: bûche de Noël to Christmas and galette des rois to Epiphany. The point is not to hunt every item in one city. Choose a few names that match what you want, then let the local bakery or restaurant show its own version.