Chocolate tasting

I was hungry. But because I knew I was going to join the chocolate and pastry tour soon, I didn't want to have a real meal. So, I decided to have a snack at a café. I ordered a glass of beer and some pate - like stuff. The beer came with a slice of lemon. Other than Corona with lime, France is the only country (that I've been to) that serves beer with lemon (or lime). It was a good addition for such a warm day.

I thought I ordered a tomato tart. But I got this pate-like stuff. It consists of three layers and aspic (jelly) on top. The bottom green layer tasted basil. I wasn't sure about the middle layer. I thought the top layer was tomato but it didn't taste like tomato. Probably carrot? But it came with tomato sauce underneath. So, there is some tomato on the plate. I don't think they brought the wrong dish. I guess I misread the menu.

                                                                   Very nice presentation


Now it was time for chocolate and pastry tasting. There were about 10 people so we were split into two groups (we had two guides). Our guide spoke English, Spanish and Japanese fluently (isn't that amazing?).

Our first stop was a bakery called Poilane. They specialize in dome shaped bread. I asked the guide if there's any specific name for this type of bread. He said there isn't a specific name because it's purely a specialty of this bakery. We tasted the bread and it was like brown sour dough bread.

The guide told us that this bakery was Salvador Dali's favorite. Dali designed a chandelier made out of bread for them. Because the breads don't last that long, the bakery replaces the bread once in a while. But the frame inside is Dali's design. Here it is.

The next stop is a chocolatier, called La Maison du Chocolat. Outside France, they have branches in London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

             Amazing view. I could only pick one piece for tasting so I chose hazelnut. Very gooood!

Also, the let us taste their two kinds of éclairs, chocolate and caramel.

 No, I didn't eat all of it. Just one piece for each per person. But that was enough. Very rich! The filling was so thick and heavy that I'm not sure if I could finish the whole thing. But it was so decadent....

So far, we had a slice of bread, some cookies, a piece of chocolate and two small pieces of éclair. It doesn't seem a lot but we needed a break with some water because they were so rich. The guide took us to a church before going to the next stop.


It's time for macarons. The guide took us to one of the most famous macaron shops, called Laduree. He thinks this is the best macaron if you are looking for something simple. He mentioned Pierre Herme if you like more creative flavors.

The guide said French macarons have more filling because French people like things rich. Yes, he is right. I tried orange blossom. The filling seem to be at least 50% more than what I'm used to.


The next stop was chewy caramel candy (I forgot to write down the name...)

I tried salted caramel, which is their specialty, and orange ginger. The salted caramel is really "salted". You can really tasted salt in this caramel.


The last stop was a chocolatier called Maison Georges Larnicol. The patissier is from the Brittany region of France and you could see the Brittany flags or the colors of the flags inside the store. There were many chocolate sculptures displayed in the store.

While they sell many beautiful sculptures like these, their chocolates are sold in bulk like a candy store. You just grab a plastic bag and put whatever you want in the bag. I chose simple dark chocolate and chopped almond, orange peel & dark chocolate balls. They tasted simple but great. Also, they sell white chocolate while many chocolatiers in France do not consider white chocolate as "chocolate". I guess the owner must be more casual and less "classy".

I had enough sweets but I decided to make a day trip to Brussels, Belgium for a chocolate workshop tomorrow. I'd love to see if there are any differences between French chocolate and Belgian chocolate.