Alluring Paris Sweets Almost Too Pretty To Eat

To this American tourist, walking into swank 86Champs, the Champs Elysees L’Occitane-Pierre Hermé shop, was beyond anything I expected. Who pairs skincare cream products with pastry? An unlikely marriage for sure, though it appears to be a relationship that is working. Visiting a pastry shop was on the “to-do list” we emailed to our Paris guide before meeting her for a city tour. She picked a delightful place for a late afternoon guilty pleasure. In fact, for Parisians, it seems to be the norm. The shop was bustling as the workday ended during our visit. Pierre Hermé is a renowned award-winning French pastry chef who has several shops in Paris and around the world. After the hostess seated us, my wife and I scanned the elegant glass showcase of pastries, displayed like expensive fine art or prized jewelry. The decor was fashionable but not snooty, with friendly, attentive service. We felt very comfortable in our casual attire, but a bit ruffled and weary from a long day of touring. We had also just navigated our way through a labyrinth of demonstrators near the Arc de Triomphe, in what we later learned are weekly scheduled public worker strikes. I honestly don’t know exactly what I ordered, except I know chocolate was involved, and it was extraordinarily light and smooth; the natural pure taste of goodness unpolluted by additives or preservatives. Chocolate is also a French delicacy. Paris has more chocolate shops than any other city in the world- more than 300- according to ChocoParis, an internet blog dedicated to articles on Paris chocolate, ice cream, and pastry shops. Almost everywhere we walked in Paris we came to a chocolate shop. About a block away from our rented Saint-Germain one-room flat, we discovered Pralus, a small corner pâtisserie specializing in on-site fresh-baked pralines and fine chocolate. François Pralus began his career as a pastry chef and then became a master chocolatier. Pralus’ website says he fell in love with Madagascar and has owned a cocoa plantation there since 2000. Then there’s chocolate with a flair of fun and humor at the shops of Maison Georges Larnicol.The chocolatier builds towering structures, statues, and playful characters to the delight of children and adults. Larnicol even built a one-ton sailboat from chocolate, including chocolate sails, and launched it into a French harbor, powered by an outboard motor. Surprisingly, it did not sink. Chocolate is a symbol of French indulgence, a mainstay of the national palate like champagne and the croissant. A sweet experience to savor and remember.