Destination: Chocolate

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Greg had quarterly business trips to Paris. To save on airfare, Greg would typically stay the weekend, where he discovered museums, shops and restaurants. Some stops became a habit, like going for crepes on the first night, buying pajamas or filling the suitcase with fine chocolate. Eventually, Greg changed jobs and these trips ended. But we still have to return to Paris for chocolate and pajamas, even if we can’t get there via our RV!

We picked the dates for this trip in order to attend the Salon du Chocolat, which Greg discovered years ago on a business trip. Since we got some sleep on the flight, we decided to go to the expo on our first day. It was surprisingly crowded for a weekday. It also wasn’t quite as good as Greg remembered: most booths were selling chocolates, not chocolate. These chocolates were generally no better than what we make ourselves. But we did enjoy trying several non-chocolate candies, including nougat and pate de fruits, which we recently tried making ourselves. One of the only booths for candy making was an Italian maker of chocolate molds. Better yet, Greg found that we can buy their molds at home, so we don’t need to buy them in Paris.

When Greg researched hotels, he found that the Fauchon gourmet shop now has their own boutique hotel. Although our room was not ready when we arrived, they welcomed us in the reception with a cup of café au lait for Amy, a cup of green tea for Greg, and a selection of fresh pastries. The best part is that the room is stocked with their coffee, teas and gourmet snacks, which are included with the room rate! (Only the alcohol in the minibar is not included, which is no problem for us).

Following tradition, we went to Crêperie de Josselin for - what else? - crepes for dinner. Greg had his usual - forestière (mushroom), a salad and a small pitcher of hard cider, while Amy had the vegetarian and a salad. Note that a savory crepe in France is made with buckwheat flour, unlike a sweet dessert crepe, which is made with wheat flour.

Remember: since we’re traveling without an RV, we are not using the Live Map for this trip. Want to know where we are? Just look at a map of Paris!