One of the things I was most looking forward to Paris was the chocolate. I’ve been lucky to have experienced high quality European chocolate before and I was ready to indulge again.
Jean-Charles Rochoux is a well known Parisian Chocolatier. He not only makes mouthwatering chocolates but also creates some unbelievable chocolate sculptures as well.
When we stepped into the small shop, we were surprised to see Monsieur Rochoux himself at the register and helping customers. After oohing and ahhing over the chocolates, we decided to follow the tourists in front of us and order as they had.
Rochoux offers several sizes of mixed chocolate boxes where you can select from all his variations. Since we had no idea which ones were good, we let him choose. He asked a few questions like milk or dark, gift for female or male, and then went to work, hand selecting chocolates for each of our gift boxes. The boxes themselves were also quite nice, and when he rung up our order, he even autographed the bag for the chocolates.
We bought a variety pack for ourselves and several as gifts. The first one we tried ended up being our favorite of the bunch and the best piece of chocolate I had in Paris. It was a dark chocolate hazelnut praline that had so many flavors to it, it left my tongue tingling. I wanted to get more of just that piece, but unfortunately the shop’s hours were so short, we didn’t have a chance to revisit again.
Tasting the chocolates here was like tasting wine. There were so many different flavors that could discovered within just a small bite. It makes Hershey’s and other similar U.S brands seem so one dimensional. On my next trip to Paris, I will definitely return to this chocolate shop.
Here’s some more of the chocolate carvings on display, taken through the glass windows so it’s not as clear as I would have liked.
Jean-Charles Rochoux
16 Rue d’Assas, 75006 Paris, France
+33 1 42 84 29 45
https://www.jcrochoux.fr/
Another famous chocolate spot in Paris is La Maison du Chocolat. This one was a lot easier to visit because there are several locations, including one in the airport. They were monitoring me pretty closely when I visited, so I didn’t try to take any pictures inside. We bought several boxes of their hazelnut praline, which we were told by the employees was their most famous chocolate. It was pretty good, though I preferred the Rochoux one. I forgot to take a picture of the gift boxes, but they were quite cute too.
There was a constant line for the gelato here. I was curious to try it, but DH wasn’t interested and it was close to dinnertime. Next time!
La Maison Du Chocolat
multiple locations
https://www.lamaisonduchocolat.com/en/
Those chocolate sculptures are so beautiful! I wouldn’t even want to eat it! Very cool that you guys also met the man himself and he even hand selected the chocolates for you. I wonder what makes some chocolates more suitable for males and females? 🙂
You know I was wondering the same thing, but I didn’t think to ask. If I ever have a chance again, I will ask him!