Fournil Ephémère Brings Modern Sourdough Loaves to Cannes

Last summer, my boyfriend made the kind of mistake that French locals avoid at all costs: he forgot to buy bread before the city shut down on Sunday afternoon.

In the south of France, most shops are closed on Sundays and Mondays, so missing the window means going without bread until Tuesday—an unthinkable notion for any respectable French person. Hoping to find an outlier who happened to be open anyway, he scanned Google Maps and discovered a brand-new bakery just blocks away: Fournil Ephémère Cannes. The name literally translates to “pop-up bakery,” only adding to the boulangerie’s mysterious allure.

Alas, they weren’t open on Sundays, either, but we were still intrigued enough by the new arrival that we visited a few days later and discovered a fantastic spot helmed by Paul Laplace, a Cannes newcomer. Unlike most bakeries in sometimes-sleepy Cannes, where the focus is on traditional baguettes made with white flour and other sweet treats and viennoiserie, this one centers completely on sourdough bread made with a wide variety of grains and traditional flour blends. Sold in quarter, half or full loaves measured by weight rather than simply as boules, the bakery and the bread it sold seemed exceptionally modern. Sourdough is one of the oldest baking styles in the world, and while it’s been a significant trend in America over the last decade and a half, in France, it’s still very rare to find.

According to Laplace, the bakery’s main customers are actually other restaurants, which buy fresh loaves wholesale to serve to diners. Some of the names immediately tipped us off that this bread was attracting high-quality culinary partners: Uva, a restaurant by acclaimed chef Noël Mantel and his son, Étienne Mantel; Quille, a fantastic wine bar just off the historic market, Marché Forville; and Aux Bons Enfants, a cash-only Bib Gourmand at the foot of a popular gastronomic neighborhood, Le Suquet.

Sold on these customers alone, we bought a couple of half loaves and took them home for sampling. We were instantly hooked—sold on both the location and the quality. Organic sourdough loaves like these have become quite familiar to Americans over the last decade, and according to Laplace, they’re growing in popularity in France for a lot of the same reasons. 

“Our bread is made using what is basically the most ancient baking method,” he tells Observer. “We don’t use baking powder, and we made our own starter as simply as possible, mixing flour and water to create fermentation, or sourdough. It’s the most natural method possible. People love it because of the gut health aspect; the fermentation makes it much easier to digest. They realized that when they eat our bread, they feel better.”

Another huge selling point for locals is how long these loaves stay fresh. French natives generally go out and buy a baguette or two every day because the bread goes stale so quickly. Sourdough loaves, however, can keep for a week or more if stored correctly. “Here, customers can come to the bakery, buy their bread, and keep it for a week and finish it, instead of buying bread they have to throw out because it went stale,” Laplace says.

Laplace moved to Cannes to open Fournil after a colleague who owned several bakeries in Paris pointed out that the city on the French Riviera didn’t seem to have a reliable B2B bakery to cater to all the high-end hotels and restaurants. Laplace owns the bakery and runs the day-to-day operations and deliveries, along with head baker Paul Fouche, who also came to Cannes via Paris, Parisian baker Thibault Gasnier and an investor.

The bakery won its three original clients, plus a steadily growing stream of other venues, by going door-to-door with their bread and gifting it to chefs. “I knocked on the door of every restaurant in Cannes,” Laplace laughs. “Now, a lot of big names carry our bread in their restaurants, including Hôtel Martinez. In the beginning, it was the small restaurants, but especially chefs who pay attention to small details. Bread is something that’s free in restaurants in France; it’s on every table no matter what, so it’s for restaurants who want to offer a complete experience.” 

While the wholesale business is thriving, the retail side has also grown quickly over the last year. Sometimes, the shop would sell out so early that buyers were turned away, because the bulk of the inventory was going to restaurants. After launching in the Prado République neighborhood in 2025 as a commercial baking kitchen with just a small retail section, Fournil Ephémère expanded to a second location, called Les Pains de Forville, in Marché Forville this spring, which focuses solely on retail customers. 

The most popular loaf at Fournil is the pain de campagne, a traditional rustic sourdough made with white, whole-wheat and rye flour. Laplace won’t disclose the bakery’s proprietary blend, but he does allow that this €8-a-kilo loaf is the best-seller by far. “It’s our signature, so it’s a little more affordable, and it’s a crowd pleaser for sure,” he says. “It has a real taste to it, and there’s an acidity. But it’s not as pronounced as the méteil (another traditional mixed-grain loaf, from the Loire region) or the petit épeautre (a spelt-flour loaf).” 

For adventurous eaters who want to branch out beyond the standard pain de campagne, Laplace recommends the rye loaf. “The seigle, or rye, is one of my favorites,” he says. “We don’t use 100 percent rye, but adding rye into the blend adds a fantastic flavor.” I’ve tried eight different loaf variations and have yet to hit a dud, so I feel confident recommending everything they make. Loaves are sold by weight, so customers can specify half or quarter loaves instead of committing to an entire miche, or large loaf. This also makes the bakery more approachable for visitors who might only be in town for a short trip, so they can stock up on an amount that works for them. 

The last element that makes Fournil such a beloved presence in town is its emphasis on sustainability. All deliveries of loaves around the city are made by bike, and, in addition to sourcing natural and organic ingredients, they focus on using only the water and electricity they need. At a time when wildfires are raging not just in France, but across the world amid worsening climate conditions, these transitions matter more than ever. 

The tradition of the baguette is such a staple in French daily life that it’s not in any danger of being replaced. But the popularity of this bakery’s sourdough boules, both with elite restaurants and locals themselves, indicates a potential shift in the hierarchy. Fournil offers customers the chance to try a different kind of French bread and have access to the same loaf served at their favorite restaurant, even when eating at home.