Salon du Chocolat, The Only Street in Paris and a map giveaway

Last Friday I ran over to the big Salon du Chocolat at Porte de Versailles

I'm a big fan of this new line of witty French chocolate bars. I haven't tasted them yet but looks count.

Beauty and the beast - an enormous chocolate 'cubist' bear in the center of the salon, while one of the chocolate dresses is rushed through the crowd. Last week was a school holiday so scads of families and kids attending.

Perfect bear cookies for kids (from Japan). Cemoi marshmallow bears for kids of all ages. Yum Yum

Jean-Charles Rochoux's fabulous chocolate sculptures. His early-bird Easter bun looks ready to run.

From Jean-Paul Hevin - simple, but scrumptious chocolate disks. Irresistible.

I didn't get to taste these chocolate brochettes.

But no way was I going to miss out on Sadaharu Aoki's green tea batter enrobed chocolate macarons! Reason alone to attend the Salon.

Plenty of Halloween chocolates were in attendance in case you were wondering.

Enfin, some Gothic architecture I could sink my teeth in to, Notre Dame with a touch of the Golden Arches. Hmm...

From the chocolate museum in Paris, an enormous encyclopedia. Naturally a French kid is studying it with great determination.

Always masses of cooking supplies from Deco-Relief for the DIYers onboard.

Single serve portions of hot chocolate. Just dip it into hot milk, let it melt. Then lap it up.

Brussel's Debailleul with their exquisite boxes and even more exquisite chocolates inside showed up this year.

Patisserie Carl Marletti of rue Mouffetard was again onsite.

Fun to watch the work in process.

Every year chocolatier Henri Le Roux creates a special treat only for the salon

This year a wafer cookie coated inside with a thin layer of chocolate, then filled with freshly made mascarpone, Chantilly and caramelized nuts sprinkled on top. Definitely a Must try.

Vendeuse Lydia remembered me from our chat two years ago! Now she's in charge of the rue des Martyrs shop at No.24. I asked if she knew Elaine Sciolino and she melted.
Elaine's book, The Only Street in Paris - Life on  the rue des Martyrs, is finally out this week.
Hooray!
THANK YOU PBers!
You will Love Elaine's book

*The first 10 PBers to Buy a copy on Amazon will get a rue des Martyrs map sent from Paris!!

Let me know in the comments or email me.

I started rereading Elaine's book again. Chine Machine was closed when she gave me the grand tour of rue des Martyrs. What a fabulous find. I must go back and search out the second-hand goodies. Elaine found a Hermes scarf there for a mere 5€. But her book is so much more than that. She brings the street and Paris alive with her gift for storytelling, her wit, her passion, her breezy tone. Here's a tiny excerpt. I could have added so much more.

Oh just read the book. You'll love it I promise.
You can meet Elaine here.
Tell her Paris Breakfast sent you! :)

I learned the street’s early morning rhythm by jogging from bottom to top. The first sound is a six a.m. rush of water, as street sweepers dressed in chartreuse and emerald-green uniforms open valves to send the flow downhill along the gutters. It is part of the Paris cleaning ritual but also a waste of water and a con- tributing factor to the wet underbelly of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Church, at the bottom of the street. Depending on the day, I might have to dodge an all-night crowd gathered at Bistrot 82 for more booze and an early breakfast.
By six-thirty, the first food merchants have arrived. The metal shutters of the shops open with a crashing and screeching that ricochets off the old concrete and stone walls. By seven, the roar of trucks delivering food takes over. Every fifteen minutes or so, the 67 bus climbs the street, announcing its presence with a bell. Dogs are late sleepers in my neighborhood, seldom out before eight or eight-thirty. Their masters seem to be a civic- minded bunch who rarely leave behind dog excrement—unlike residents on my old street in a much fancier part of Paris.
The three bells of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette ring at nine a.m., as they will every hour until eight p.m., plus three times a day for the Angelus prayer. Boutiques begin to open at ten a.m. When school lets out, in late afternoon, children crowd the sidewalks with their parents (mostly mothers) or nannies.