Salon de Chocolat

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aka willy wonka's international wonderland for adults. Chocolatiers from all around Paris and the world come to show their products, sell them, and most importantly give you free samples!! it was amazing.

Not just chocolate to taste in every form (bars, chips, ice cream, hot, liqueur, tea, crepes, coating things, coated in things, with pistachio, coffee, olive oil, hot peppers) but also chocolate sculptures of everything from old skate shoes to mermaids leaping from fantastical surroundings, chocolate games, chocolate facials, chocolate massages, chocolate lotion, and chocolate clothing for the fashion show going on in the middle of it all. I sampled just about everything I could get my hands on until i'd had so much chocolate I couldn't even think about buying any to bring home because I would've been sick. I do have to admit to having purchased a bottle of "Djangoa" a liqueur claiming to be made from chocolate with aniseed. In the same family as Bailey's maybe but more intense with it's chocolatey licoriceness. Anyway, I'd never heard of it before, the sample was quite tasty and I figured it would last me longer than any chocolate candies I could buy (which would have been gone as soon as I'd recovered from the day's overdose).

There were so many people, so many amazing smells and sights and tastes, the whole experience was a bit overwhelming. Here's just a sampling of all that this day was. (best to be viewed with your own chocolate of choice in hand)

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Photos

mancala with cocoa beans
I think, though I didn't watch long enough to be sure.

chocolate tumbler
it spins to coat the nuts in packed powdered chocolate (as I understand it)

sculptures
so many, so crazy. and they really are chocolate. though i still think it's better to eat than to look at.

chocolate fashion
ok, so it's not all made of chocolate clearly, but there is definitely some real chocolate involved

chocolate fashion
this one definitely had chocolate in the fabric itself- I looked up close

and yes they can be worn too!
but it was almost impossible to see over the heads in the crowd, making for unintentionally "artistic" photography here

Comments

[freddi]

Amazing and delicious
Emma -- what a day, I am totally jealous! Thank you for sharing -- I am clearly heading downstairs to raid the Halloween candy before the night is over.....I especially enjoyed the idea of chocolate clothes, fashionesta to the max! Love you more than dark chocolate covered in crunchy almonds....Freddi

[Markljaster]

Uh-oh
It might be worth researching when this show "comes down". Maybe a spot between the exhibit hall and the dumpster might glean some choice discards... or better yet, do they need help taking the exhibit down? Maybe one could get paid to help empty the shelves.