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Published: November 11th 2009
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PARIS ITINERARY
10:05 AM Like a couple of truffle hounds, we set out for the Gare de Lyon and board a train to the nearby village of Melun. What erudite adventure does this day hold, you wonder? Art and Architecture? Music and Theatre? Um... no. This is the last day of the Chocolate Salon, held in a castle called Chateau Vaux le Vicomte. And so it's all good. We're rattling our way into the countryside, prepared to familiarize ourselves with the historic Vicomte and his tragic relationship with Louis XIV, but secretly, achingly, anticipating chocolate.
10:38 AM We arrive at Melun. I gather up my camera, a bottle of water and a whole tube of antacids. Since, let's face it, who needs chocolate so early in the morning?
10:43 AM We pick up the shuttle bus outside the Cafe de La Gare, in the charmless village of Melun. The other passengers, in a kind of Sunday torpor, stare silently ahead. From the window I notice a line of fishermen set up along the banks of the river, braced against the November chill. The sky is triste; in other words, determinedly grey.
11:15 AM We arrive
at the castle. It is also grey. Not to mention huge and dominating. It was built in 1658 by the Vicomte Nicholas Fouquet and was the inspiration for that other big one, Versailles. Ron suggests we visit the carriage room before we enter the castle. We gallop though at a fast clip.
11:30 AM There are already a lot of people at the first tasting tent. The tables are groaning with chocolate, in all different forms. Assistants in white aprons offer samples from silver trays. We work our way around the room, methodically. Thinking that this might be all we get, we work our way around again. It's like the buffet table at a chocolate-themed bar mitzvah luncheon, except more civilized. The children are entranced by cascading fountains of molten chocolate. They are well dressed, polite. We do our best, but feel something primal kicking in.
12:55 PM We enter the Grand Salle and realize we've made a big mistake. Reading like Tales From Arabian Nights, this room is bigger and grander than the room before. In the centre, a five-tiered pyramid towers over the crowd. Servers weave in and out, adults pick delicately at morsels of this
and that, alabaster heads of state gaze down from tall columns. It's all a bit daunting. Perhaps a swig of hot cocoa will settle my stomach. It does not. I drop the next five chocolate samples directly into my purse.
1:30 PM Ron drags me off to explore the castle. We learn about the Vicomte Fouquet, who was the Superintendent of Finances for Louis XIV. Fouquet liked squirrels, for some reason, so he used them liberally when decorating his castle. There are squirrel emblems on books, painted on wallpaper, in his coat of arms. Just so you know, I look at squirrels and see rats with furry tails; I just don't see the appeal. However, Fouquet seems like a nice enough guy, and it's a pity the trouble he lands himself in. We pass through his library and some sumptuous receiving rooms, gawk at his wife's bathtub, press down on the royal mattress. Louis XIV is getting too big for his britches, according to Ron's audio guide, and we don't see this story ending well. Whatever. In we go for chocolate, round four.
2:10 PM Back in the Grande Salle, we're full to bursting. Even Ron has started
to smuggle samples into the purse. There is a gorgeous display of oriental truffles, however, and one ought to keep current on what the Japanese are doing with chocolate these days. One of the servers looks me up and down, sure that he's seen me before. Twice. He's wise to my tricks.
2:40 PM Fittingly, we descend to the dungeon. The poor Fouquet, like a 17th Century Bernie Madoff, sits shackled in his cell, bemoaning all he has lost. "Oh, my pretty orange trees," we hear him saying. "Will I ever see them again?" At this point, although it's pretty clear he won't, I'm busy regretting my own excesses. We claw through the crowds, in search of fresh air.
3:00 PM Instead, we find ourselves in another cave-like room, set up as a medieval kitchen. Professional chefs are coddling eggs (that other food group) with a dollop of foie gras and a dusting of chocolate. Ron tries it out and, surprisingly, approves.
3:15 PM We are belched out the door and into the courtyard. It has been a day of debauchery, a perfect fit for this location. Back on the bus, I examine my stash of contraband
and have a sudden vision of myself as one of Fouquet's little squirrels. I've gathered nuts for the winter though, at this point, I can't imagine anything further passing my lips. Except maybe an antacid.
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Flaury Bubel
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Delicious!
What a delicious piece-- I had to grab some left-over Halloween candy while reading it! Great visuals, too! PS I agree with you about the rodents.