Chocolate Festival in Paris

“Can I attend the Chocolate Festival In Paris?”

I really really want to go to the Chocolate Festival in Paris, but I haven’t timed my visits quite right — yet! I tend to visit Paris in June/July but one of these years, I’ll add an extra trip in October!

Have you heard of the annual Salon du Chocolat? No? Me either, until I started to look for a yummy chocolate shop to visit in Paris. I found out more than I bargained for!

Chocolate festival in Paris - Salon du Chocolat

The website – http://SalonDuChocolat.fr – is in French and English. See the little English flag I’ve circled in red above? When you visit the website, click the flag to see the website in English, and then click each button to find what you’re looking for.

Here’s a great little video they’ve created:

View on Youtube >>

Back in 2006 this five-day chocolate festival enticed 120,000 visitors, which had presentations ranging from “A Geopolitical History of Chocolate” to “The Role of Soil in the Gustatory Expression of Terroir,” – and I must admit I’d never heard of wonderful (if not bizarre) French title of “chocologue”. The show is also held annually in New York and Tokyo and from all accounts appears to be an orgy of chocolate consumption.

Dates of the Salon du Chocolat in Paris:

20-24th October, 2o11.

28th October to 1st November, 2010

During my internet search and questions from friends in Paris, I soon discovered that the best chocolates in France are attributed to Monsieur Robert Linxe and his salon La Maison du Chocolat. In 1977 Mr. Linxe opened his first chocolate shop on the Avenue de Madeleine. A tip I discovered in my research is that the word ‘bonbon’ is the term used for art for small chocolate confections.

There is evidently a Club des Croqueurs de Chocolat, an invitation-only group of 150 chocolatiers, financiers, stylish fashion folk and others. They gather to eat and talk about … yes, you guessed it … chocolate. The club publishes a useful guide to chocolatiers.

Le Club des Croqueurs de Chocolat