Easter Chocolate Art In Paris

Easter chocolate  becomes an extremely creative and competitive art form with practically every chocolate maker and pastry shop here competing to outdo one another!

Paris is already a chocolate lovers dream, bar none, as several of the world’s most renown chocolatiers are Paris based, but Easter is another special time to be dazzled, like with Hugo et Victor’s cute kissing fish!

These are not your run of mill chocolates by any means.   I am talking about some  intricate chocolate sculptures that are so exclusive that they must be individually ordered.

However beautiful they are to look at and marvel at the artistry, they are always made with first class chocolate.

Yes, they are quite expensive, but you are paying for an edible piece of art. The only problem is that some look way too artistically sculpted and pretty to even consider taking a bite.

 

There are some chocolatiers who are definitely into making chocolate primarily for a more mature crowd, with deep pockets.

Jean Paul Hevin came up with one called Call Omar, a play on the word “homard”(lobster) pronounced like omar.  An absurd creation, but well carved and certainly made with excellent chocolate!

The Shangri La Hotel pastry chef offered a mighty spaceship and astronaut.

However impressive and admirable their  chocolate art can be, worthy of being seen in a museum, it’s the whimsical ones that bring out my smiles.

The part of me that I hope remains playfully optimistic  and even still innocent, despite what life has thrown my way, draws me towards the capricious and carefree ones.

I am much too serious anyhow, so seeing those adorable animal carvings and silly caricatures that delights the child tucked away inside of me is good medicine for my soul.

This year, I felt especially drawn to three lovable turtles: Chléa, the courageous and curious  diver, Calice the timid swimmer and Crush the cool surfer boy.

Lenôtre gave each one a different personality that you could easily adore! The only drawback was that they were 52 euros each.

I think Easter is one of those times of the year when we can allow ourselves to return to playing out our childhood fantasies, and divulge in the cuteness of it all.

Instead of running all over Paris, I concentrated taking photos in the 6 and 7th arrondissements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first stop was to Karamel, a fairly new pastry shop opened by talented Nicolas Haelewyn on Rue Saint Dominique, whos been  creating a lot of buzz recently.

A most unusual pineapple creation succulently hiding a soft caramel interior was stunning to look at, but the large one was 120 euros.

I ended up leaving with the chocolate blond caramelisé egg with fruits secs(nuts and fruit) to give to Aimée.

On both sides of Avenue Saint Germaine you will find a good representation of some of the most sought out chocolatiers, though of course not all.

In some shops, there were absolutely swarms of people buying chocolates and the others less so.

One was a popular Breton pastry and chocolate maker, Georges Larnicol, who promotes his  small kouign amann pastires most of the year, and then goes wild at Easter.

He offered some of the most diverse and colourful Easter chocolates that I saw, from pianos to frogs, and a plane flying over a globe.

His designers must be kids at heart that goes bonkers in their imagination.  You could easily think you were more in a toy store with all various colourful creations on display tied with ribbons

I enjoyed window shopping as much or even more than eating these marvelous creations.

Further down Saint Germain is the superb and very popular Patrick Roger boutique.  Known as the cowboy of chocolatiers, his sculptures are always on the fringes and one could call  mildly abstract, like his forest bark fantasie.

 

Some are very whimsical and some are more designed with adult tastes in mind. It all depends who you are buying the chocolate for!

On the southern side of the avenue on Rue Seine is one of favorites, Pierre Marcolini. 

This year his mystery eggs are classical but as always made with the best chocolate one can find.

A few meters down from him is Arnaud Larher where I loved his yellow and pink airplanes and chicken in a ring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awaiting the Easter Bunny  was almost as exciting for me as Santa Claus!  Like most American kids, I grew up not knowing much about good chocolate till I was exposed to the  very best when I was a student here.

Most mass produced chocolates sold worldwide are really more sugar than chocolate and  cocoa butter.  You might think of them as chocolate flavoured sugar!

Sugar is much cheaper than chocolate, even the cheapest of chocolate.

Once your palate is accustomed to good chocolate, where you can taste the various  nuances of chocolate instead of just sugar,  you will become more discerning about what chocolates you buy.

Since I don’t crave chocolate, a little morsel of really good chocolate is fulfilling enough.

Chocolates from different chocolate producing countries all have particular aromas and flavours that you want to enhance not cover up with sweetness.

The Easter bunny is something I still enjoy playing, surprising a grown up kid,  as much as I love being the reciprocant.

Well, if you can be a real kid anymore, you can at least feast your eyes on such enchanting characters such as Dalloyau’s superheroes, like this lion mascot.

I love the charming little brown hen and her chick from Meert, on the northern side of Saint Germain.

I was tempted to pick her up too, since I identify with the maternal “little red hen”.

If you had a rather wayward husband or companion, you could have dared to present him with the Chaud Lapin from La Mère de la Famille. 

A chaud lapin or “hot rabbit” is a nickname denoting a womanizing type of man. This little rabbit looks like he just got caught and might be in some hot water!

 

 

 

If he is guilty, then he probably will turn as pink and embarrassed looking as this other cutie pie rabbit from Laduree!

Easter blessings and hugs to all!