Poisson d'Avril sketch letter

This morning when I got up I stepped on chocolate fish first thing.

It's total immersion around here. Yesterday was the annual French fete, Poisson d'Avril. You can buy an entire school of chocolate seafood if you like.

Gerard Mulot is Fish Central in my opinion at Easter. On the right praline-filled milk chocolate lobsters, crabs, oysters. Milk chocolate is nothing to sniff at by the way. Its harder to get the balance of milk and sugar right than straight old dark chocolate. Give it a try and forget the percentages.

Mulot has perhaps the biggest range of moulages or chocolate molds. Even Sturgeon for caviar-lovers.

Big fish are filled with little fish or fritures. Yum.

I thought at first it would be a snap to paint chocolate fish with a little help from the Aquarium. Ha

And what a mysterious and stunning place it is. Especially the 10m deep, three-million litre shark tank.

Hurry up and apply for a free overnight Airbnb is offering to sleep with the sharks (35 of them). Airfare included.

The children's 'petting pool' is a delight.

I brought Bear along but I was so enthralled I forgot to take him out of my bag until the gift shop.

Naturally he wants a stripped clown fish toy. We're giving it serious thought.

Clearly it wasn't going to be so easy to capture these exquisite fish in watercolor.

I wished I hadn't thrown away the wash doodle I'd done after visiting much smaller Aquarium de Porte Doree.

First go was a no-go :( Was I inhaling too many chocolate fish to see straight?

Enfin les fins d'Avril c'est fini!
By the way the Aquarium de Paris is near the Eiffel Tower in Trocadero parc, a 5-minute walk from Metro Station Ilena.
Bugs emailed me,
"Loving your French children fishing - they look like they popped out of a children's story book".
Umm...c'est moi

School for Fish

While prepping a sneak preview of April's Paris Sketch letter, I discovered a little noted fact. Les fritures - the mini chocolate fish shapes specially eaten today, the 1st of April (poisons d'avril) are all facing left.
Is this a political statement?
"I couldn't possibly comment".

Many Parisian chocolate fish for Paques(Easter) have leftist leanings.

Jean-Paul Hevin's fish are left-facing and quite realistic, though I couldn't possible identify the species. Can you?

Even with the added brightly-colored bows.

His ganache-filled fish are classic Sardines.

Hevin's elegant chocolate scallop bivalves are not letting on their political preferences.

This glorious Hevin huge chocolate egg is embossed/engraved with gold scallops. Eggs and seafood go together at Easter in Paris, as long as they're chocolate.

More fish facts. You should know almost all larger French chocolate eggs, rabbits, bells are hollow molds, are held together with ribbon and filled with mini flat chocolate fish (garnis de fritures). Except here, the little fish are double-sided and filled with praline.

It should also be noted that Angelina, so far, is about the only place you'll find a mixture of milk, white and dark fritures(mini fish) in case you lean in that direction.

Gerard Mulot is offering a wider variety of fish I'm happy to report. Though they may appear to be facing to the right, don't forget they are two-faced so can swim both ways.

Chocolatier Sadaharu Aoki is Japanese so may not be aware of the importance of French fish orientation.

Chocolatier Patrick Roger is mainly focused on gigantic cow-eggs.

For total fishy immersion head over to Fauchon Madeleine.

Mini-sand buckets, sardine cans, you name it at Fauchon - Paris' fish central.

Here fish swim both ways. Non-political fish?

A special fish éclair for poisson d'avril.

In Fauchon's savory department you'll find eclairs of real fish flavors.

Artiga has a special Easter offer - little fish purses that come with a packet of chocolate fritures through April 6. Hurry over to 22, rue des quatre vents 75006

Last night Solli and I made like fish in aquagym class at piscine Saint-Germain. I need to do this daily!
Health food chain Naturalia would like you to eat rabbits for Easter as long as they're chocolate.
Happy Poisson d'avril to you PBers!

Poisson d'avril

April 1 is the French equivalent of April's Fools day with an emphasis on fish jokes of all sorts.
 

I was on my way to swim with the fishes this morning when I took a spill on the cobblestones.
 

I turned around and came home, but the only thing I had to put on my sore knee and lower lip was a piece of frozen fish from Picard. Once it was defrosted I ate it for lunch. You're supposed to eat fish on Poisson d'avril.
 

Teal blue seems to be the color many fish prefer this Spring.
 

Jeff de Bruges has a witty concept at play in their windows for April 1.

 

Chocolate fish filled with ganache is traditionally the seasonal candy of choice but these are sushi instead of the usual sardines in a half-opened tin.

 

The happy cat green bowl was very tempting.
 

I brought my Happy cat from New York to Paris though I left behind an awful lot of other things I wish I'd taken. We all had a fishy dinner tonight.
 

Sushi pens at Gilbert Joseph.

Jean-Paul Hévin always comes up with innovative ideas for Easter. Here the fish is on the outside of the bowl.n

La Mere de Famille orange ribbons are very becoming on their chocolate fish. Orange is a classic color in the French chocolate world.

I popped in just as they were unpacking chocolate critters from the box.
 

All of these large animal shapes are hollow and filled inside/garnis with the little fish or friture as they're called.
 

When you find a mixed bag or box of chocolate fish/friture grab it. Usually the dark, milk and white chocolate fish are sold separately. After the salade de crevette Happy cat polished off a good number of milk chocolate poisson/fish. The Easter season of excess chocolate has begun. Spring is here!