"Miam! Miam! Miam!"

The posters had been everywhere -- in the metro, on the buses, in big displays on all the major streets. You didn't have to be a chocoholic to know that the 23rd annual Salon du Chocolat was taking place in Pavilion 5 at the Porte de Versailles last weekend. And if you were a chocoholic, there was nowhere else you wanted to be!

At 11:30 am last Saturday, we found ourselves shoulder-to-shoulder and jam-packed with other chocolate lovers. The going would be slow! The origins of the fair go back to 1994 when a French couple, at a dinner party, decided they wanted to create a trade show about chocolate for both professionals and the public. The idea was to discover where chocolate comes from, and the process involved to produce all those enticing, delicious bon-bons to eat and hot chocolate liquids to drink.

From fairly modest beginnings, the Fair has grown this year to 500 participants from around the world, 60 countries participating. There were activities for children, fashion shows, cooking demonstrations, book signings, and, of course, multiple opportunities for tasting and buying!

Right away, I learned some new things: that the history of chocolate began with the Mayans in Mexico some 2600 years ago, that it was considered a medicine, was used to barter, and was deemed the Nectar of the Gods.

Later, the Aztecs called it "chocolatl" which means "warm liquid".

Just like the Mayans before them, the Aztecs drank the unsweetened liquid during special ceremonies. The frothy beverage, which was sometimes made with water, and sometimes with wine, could be seasoned with vanilla, pimento, and chili pepper. Even though Cortez found the drink bitter, cocoa beans found their way to the Court of Queen Isabella, and the rest -- as they say -- is history!

With this brightly-clad Brazilian woman leading the way, we rode the escalator up to the second level and, right off the bat, came face to face with this "history"...

...but this was just the very beginning of stall after stall of the most delectable, mouth-watering displays of the solid version of the Nectar of the Gods, as well as many other stalls that offered samples of equally heavenly liquid forms. We were in for a major treat!

In fact, some stalls were so glamorous and elaborate, that I wasn't sure if I was in a chocolate boutique...

...or at the cosmetic counter at Macy's picking out some rouge or eye shadow!

Jeff de Bruges is a familiar brand to us as there used to be a store on the rue Montorgeuil, and I was a faithful customer. This chocolate bear was perhaps an alternate choice to a chocolate Easter bunny...

...whilst this row of chocolate cream cones just made your teeth ache!

Several stalls were devoted to cooking with chocolate. Top flight chefs showed off their stuff to captive audiences.

And then there was this "Turkish Delight" extravaganza, that didn't need any chocolate to make you want to stop and taste...and maybe taste a bit more, because the colors were so pretty!

My favorite "other kind of stall", though, was hosted by this Monsieur, who was demonstrating a silicon-lined tart tin. For someone like me, who makes dozens and dozens of jam tarts and, over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, equal numbers of mince tarts and tassies, this really got my attention.

Here's the "skinny": you roll out the dough, and place it over the silicon mold, which sits in a matching metal tart tin.

You then take another metal tart tin and gently press down to push the dough into the silicon molds.

And now, here comes the really brilliant thing: you remove the top metal tin, take the rolling pin, and roll it over the silicon mold that has raised edges...

...et voilà! the rest of the dough peels away and you are left with a dozen little tarts, all neatly in their spots, ready to be filled and popped into the oven!  No more greasing the pan, no more cutting each shape out individually. I cannot tell you how quickly I forked over 32 euros for the kit!

The global aspect of the Fair was evident everywhere, with an especially large contingent of chocolate producers from Japan...

...offering beautifully packaged goodies...

...and one group came all the way from China.

Believe it or not, these haute couture garments are covered with chocolate layers and "buttons"...

...and at certain hours of each day, fashion models wearing these dresses "strut" their stuff on the runway, hoping the bright lights don't melt their gowns!

Another interesting stall caught our eye -- Foie Gras and Chocolate?? Well, yes, it turns out someone came up with the idea of making chutneys containing chocolate, to serve on top of Foie Gras on a thin slice of baguette.

After tasting several options, we went for a tin of Foie Gras together with a jar of onion-chocolate chutney, which I assure you is totally delicious, and perfect with the Foie-Gras.

These yummy goodies looked familiar to us, and sure enough, they were part of the Stohrer stall, the famous patisserie and chocolatier on the rue Montorgeuil, and one of the oldest patisseries in Paris.

By now, our legs and taste buds were almost at their limit, but somehow there was always another show-stopping sight, like this naked chocolate lass...

...whose sad face maybe due to her having lost her magic chocolate "slipper"!

Remembering that a lot of chocolate from Mexico and Central America is heavily spiced, here was a dazzling display of close to 100 different spice choices, with a beautiful brass lantern adding extra light.

But if you weren't interested in spices, you could always line up for a selection of classic dark, milk and white chocolate "bon bons", perfect little mouthfuls...

 ...or these individual bars of chocolate, so beautifully wrapped, looking like they came from the Il Papiro stationery store in Florence.

But if I had to pick one image that stayed with us after we staggered out and went across the street for a  late lunch, it would be this display. It was like stepping into Tiffany's. A steady hand and delicate tweezers were needed just to pick one up.  And, astonishingly, each one of these tiny morsels cost 1,50 euros or 1.75 US dollars, and there was no shortage of eager customers!

Suitably restored after a nice lunch, and "un café" with its little Gusto Chocolat Noir square (no, I hadn't had enough!), we walked round the corner and found our most favorite #39 bus.

Its route goes from that part of town, and takes us clear across Paris, past some sweet local sights, like these gentlemen engrossed in their game of petanque near Les Invalides...

...to more world-famous sights like the I.M. Pei Pyramid at the Louvre...

...until it drops us at the door of our very beautiful building on rue Reaumur. Our flat is behind those six windows set in the lower part of the roof, and we're always so happy to get there!

À bientôt!

(Big thanks to Matthew for most of these scrumptious snapshots!)

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