Paris Trip, Oct 2006 - Chocoland!

Do you remember that I mentioned about a special event that brought me to Paris?

It's the 12th Paris Salon du Chocolat! It is an annual chocolate trade show. It is also held in other countries (New York, Tokyo, China, Moscow) but Paris was the first to hold the exhibition! I have wanted to visit the show in Paris ever since I found out about it 3-4 years ago!!!

The exhibition itself was held at the Porte de Versailles. This year, there were almost 130 chocolatier participating in the trade show.

In front of the exhibition centre

OK. Let's get your most 'important' question out of the way: do they offer chocolate samples?

The answers is YES! There were many things to try.

The exhibition hall was really quite big and the samples will definitely satisfy your chocolate 'needs'.

So, which chocolate makers were there?

Some of the big names were there (including Nestlé, who makes their 'chocolate confectionery' with vegetable oil instead of proper cocoa butter! Shameless corporation!! hehe) and they occupied very large space:

Jeff de Bruges. They were offering specials on the day!

Leonidas was there. I am never a fan of theirs, but some other chocolate stall was offering free ice creams in front of their stall. haha

One of the most well-known French chocolate brand!

I really wanted to try chocolates from the smaller chocolatiers though, so I tried to steer clear of the more commercial brands.

Michel Cluizel was offering lots of chocolate samples. These people process their own cocoa beans, which is unusual for chocolatier.

There were also cake stalls. They are very popular around tea time!

One of the more special stall was the Madame Setsuko, a chocolate maker who creates chocolate with oriental ingredients, such as, green tea, soy, sesame seeds and lemon grass:

They have turned chocolate-making into an art form!

These chocolates are supposed to represent the 4 seasons. I know, I know. One of the seasons is missing. I blame the photographer!

The chocolate maker at work!

(Photo from: http://www.oswegotea.com/)
They were offering these green tea ganache samples. I really really like them. I should have gotten more!

The kind of chocolate-related things that people can come up with is amazing. There were the more usual hot chocolate (there were some seriously good hot chocolate!), chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce. Then, there were chocolate busts (made on-the-spot and to a good degree of likeness), chocolate calender, chocolate sandwich, cocoa-based beauty products... In addition to chocolate, there were also other (extremely vaguely-linked) products on offer: French wine, foie gras, macaroons, artworks from cocoa-producing countries, spices....

Fancy to add spices to your chocolate?

While there, I also had the chance to pretend to be a 'vrai connaisseur de chocolat' and offered my 'expert' opinion at Marquise de Sévigné about their new line of chocolate.

'Professional' at work!

O, there was also a chocolate fashion show. We didn't watch the catwalk. Personally, I think that is just pure waste of chocolate! SP did take a few photos of the 'fashion items':

Will the chocolate melt with such close contact with the body?

Chocolate patterns on kimono

I imagine a lot of time and CHOCOLATE has been used on creating the 'soft fabric-like' effect.

For more information:

http://www.chocoland.com/

It costs €12 to get in. If you like chocolate, you will probably get more than your money's worth of chocolate samples in the exhibition. It is recommended to get your tickets in advance because there was a LONG queue at the ticket office!

To get your tickets, go to:

http://www.francebillet.com/

Paris Trip, Oct 2006 - French Food Markets

One of the best part of the trip is definitely the food markets.

On our first day, we wandered around and walked past a small local cobble-stone street with an open air market at the end of the street. This was the market for the local neighbourhood.

Along the street, there were all the local shops: fromagerie (cheese), pâtisserie, chocolatier, poissonerie (fish), boucherie (butcher), boulangerie (bakery), charcuterie (cold meat). There was no unpleasant, big supermarkets around this neighbourhood to spoil the character.

The local butcher hanging the game meat for sale

Then, there were the lovely champignons!

Most people would know that I LOVE edible fungi. All kinds... (including truffles, of course!)

In the French markets, you will always find a stall that sells mushrooms! Here are what was in season when I visited Paris in Oct last year:

Trompette des Morts (Black Trumpets)

Chanterelle Jaunissante or Chanterelles Grise (I believe they are called yellowfoot chanterelle)

Girolle (Chanterelle)

Cèpe (Pocini)

Cèpes and me!!

The French loves their mushroom. Some people like to collect their own mushroom. But as you know, there are lots of poisonous varieties as well. In France, they have an unique solution to the problem: all you need to do is to take your booty to the nearest pharmacy (which is all over the place in Paris). In France, all pharmacists are required to study fungi taxonomy as part of the formal qualification. They are usually friendly enough to help you identify the findings for free. Isn't that great? :)

The next day, we wanted to repeat the market experience so we head out to the Marché de la Bastille, which is a much larger market. The market is still very traditional and the produce are generally very fresh.

Fishmonger selling fresh and smoked fish

Cooked prawns. These ones look fresh!

Cheese stall. Lots of blue cheese

Froglegs! The part of culinary culture that France shares with China

Yoghurt made the traditional way. It was delicious! Why don't the supermarket in London stock these?!

Trying to make a purchase at the fruit stall

Success! (despite not knowing the name of the fruit in French! haha)

I love how these eggs are laid out in the basket. I am so used to crates!

Here I was, lining up for mushrooms to take home!

A point to note: Prices tends to get better the further you are from Place Bastille. So if you are approaching the market from the Bastille metro station, hold your 'fire' until you are well into the market!

Highlight of the day: I was asking for directions on my way to the market (we approach the market from the local neighbourhood, instead of the touristy Bastille Place) and the guy responded to me in full-pace French. As our conversation develops in ENGLISH, I found out that he first thought I can speak fluent French because I didn't have any accent! hahaha. I will never forget the moment.

For more information:

Marché de la Bastille

Blvd Richard Lenoir between the streets Amelot and Saint-Sabin

Mº Bastille
Open Thu, 7 - 14:30 and Sun, 7 - 15

Paris Trip, Oct 2006 - Le Bistrot Paul Bert

Good food was on the top of our list during our visit to Paris. Sadly, most Parisian restaurants rest on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Out of our long list of recommendations, there were only a couple which are opened on Saturday. We eventually decided on Bistro Paul Bert, with which we made a booking many weeks in advance.


In Paris, most people don't start their dinner until 8:30-9pm. We made a booking for 7:30pm (when the restaurant opens) because we were worried that we will get lost in the dark. As we arrived, the waiters were still setting some of the tables.

We were lucky to arrive well in advance of all other customers. One of the waiter was able to speak some English and he was very patient with us when he explained all the dishes on the menu board:

All of the dishes were of classic French cuisine (we forgot to take photos of our entrees):

SP ordered the venison

A rabbit dish. Very strong.

Desserts!

The bistro has made it into a couple of guide books now and we saw other groups of tourists while we were dining there. It is no longer a locals' restaurants but it is still recommended.

For more information:

Le Bistrot Paul Bert
18, rue Paul Bert, 11e
Mº Faidherbe-Chaligny
Tel: 01.43.72.24.01
Open Tue-Thur 12noon-2pm, 7.30-11pm, Fri, Sat 12noon-2pm, 7.30-11.30pm. Closed Aug.

Paris Trip, Oct 2006 - Notre Dame de Paris

More famous landmarks from Paris: the Notre Dame on the Île de la Cité.

SP and I on the Western side of the Cathedral

The detailed stonework on the Portal of the Last Judgement.

Another photos from the Eastern side of the cathedral

The rose window of the North transept, depicting stories from the Old Testament

Some interesting trivia from Wiki:

France's "Point zéro", the reference point for distances along the highways starting in Paris, is situated in the square in front of the cathedral. Tradition hold that tourists who stand on Point zéro will one day return to Paris. (Point zero is a stone in the ground)

I should have stand on it for a few more times!

Paris Trip, Oct 2006 - Panthéon

We have already been to all the main sites in Paris.

So this time around, we decide to 'lose' the map altogether and wander around the back streets of Paris. It was really quite rewarding as we walk through small local markets, shops and eventually back to the tourist attraction!!

The Pantheon was originally built as a replacement church dedicated to St. Genevieve, which is the patron saint of Paris. In 1744, King Louis XV was suffering from an illness. He vowed that if he recovers from the illness, he was to replace the original church ruin with "an edifice worthy of the patron saint of Paris. It took more than 30 years to complete.



The Pantheon is also the burial place of many famous Frenchman: Voltaire, Rousseau, Marat, Louise Braille, Maria Skłodowska-Curie and Victor Hugo included. (That reminds me. "The Death of Marat" is currently in exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. I have meant to go and see it for a couple of weeks now. I hope the exhibition is still on!)

According to Wiki:

The inscription above the entrance reads AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE ("To great men the Nation is grateful"). A grave in the Pantheon is the highest honour from the Nation. As such its entrance is severely restricted and is allowed only by a parliament act for "National Heroes".

Paris Trip, Oct 2006 - Chez Gladines

In front of the resturant

It's spring! SP and I will start doing more travelling. I'm going to try to clear as much of my 'backlog' of travel writing as possible.

A week after we returned from our Japan-Aust-HK trip last year, we visited Paris for a weekend trip, all because of one event (I will write about it later). But how can one miss the good food while in Paris?

We took recommendations from friends of friends and our first stop after checking-into the hotel was to have lunch at a local Bistro. We were the only tourists in the place but luckily, we were still welcomed. We ordered a couple glasses of wines and enjoyed the hearty lunch.

SP's dish

My dish

For more information:

Chez Gladines

30 r Cinq Diamants- 75013
Mº Place d'Italie

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