A crazy chocolate guy!

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Strasbourg France. I was a little confused about that. Strasbourg did not sound like a french name, matter of fact it sounded very German, now I know why. I never realized how close it was to German border, nor i did have any idea about the numerous periods of Germanic occupation. This makes its name AKA The Capital of Europe very appropriate. Being so close to Switzerland, Germany, and who knows what other countries, the EU or European Union decided to build numerous diplomatic buildings there. Not a bad idea, since there are French, German, and even some Roman influences all throughout the city, and a mix of two major European cultures. This is reflected in the architecture because it is styled more of a gothic era than what we have seen up to this point. Gothic was never really big in Switzerland, but had a huge following in France, and this can be seen even despite the German occupations. Now in Strasbourg there is a little Patisserie known as Christian's owned by Christoph Meyer. This man is crazy, but in the best way possible. I mean come on who else would think of mixing chocolate and cigar tobacco leaves. Or then realize tea works better. Know it is different from anything we might ever see in the U.S. because all of his chocolate and ice cream, which was delicious is unpasteurized. Something the U.S. does not allow. Though I feel if they could taste some of Christoph's creations like we did, they would change their mind! But more than chocolate, Mr. Meyer taught me something. He said what everyone else does, find something you are passionate about, work with that, and you will never get tired of it, nor will you ever call it work. However Mr. Meyer is one of the first persons I've ever seen who actually seemed to follow that, and still after all these years loves his job. I walked away from that tour with more than just a sense of how to tell good chocolate, and that Orange ice cream with red peppers is delicious, but with the lessons of a man who loved his work, and made me appreciate mine!

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