Choc, Choc, Chocolat!!

The French seem to be crazy about chocolate, and this is certainly one bit of culture that I took to very easily. Everywhere you go, there is chocolate.

They have chocolate stores in their cities--some of which have been around for 100 years. My favorite in Lyon was Voisine, located on the Rue de la Républic as well as Place Bellecour.

They have croissants, rolls, breads filled with chocolate at nearly every boulangerie.

They write songs about chocolate. (Actually, this one is Spanish and English because I couldn't find the French one. But it illustrates the same idea: praise of chocolate.)

The film, Chocolate takes place in a small French town where people have an ecstatic reaction after eating a single piece of chocolate. The shop also knitted the community together around chocolate. Here's the film's soundtrack.

A common gift to give someone you visit is chocolate, and it is much appreciated. Apparently, chocolate is a common holiday gift as well. At the Super U grocery story in Le Puy, the most crowded section of the store was the chocolate display where an assortment of chocolate was available in various sizes.

The French have drinks with chocolate. My favorite is chocolat chaud--hot chocolate. It is so thick and creamy that you want to scrape the bottom with your spoon to get every bit. It's a great drink whether you are alone or with someone. 

Sister Rose (at the top of this page) and I had chocolat chaud after a movie. We went to the Ikone, which is just down the street from the theatre near the Place des Terreaux. Ikone offers not only chocolat chaud but an assortment of 12 different chocolate fondue flavors for different dishes. My favorite was the fruit plate where I dipped pieces of fruit in melted hazelnut chocolate. Two Brazilian students, Felipé and Leticia, introduced me to this place, and I regret not having taken any photos. You can see the fruit plate (and other offerings) in the Ikone Facebook video below. You don't need to know French to understand what a treasure this place really is.

During my last week of school, some Colombian students took me out to a café. Of course, I had chocolat chaud, and it went down very well along with the wonderful conversation we had about the students' career plans and their gratefulness to their parents who sent them to France. One young woman plans to be an industrial engineer and the other three are majoring in design. A couple of them were in their gap year in between high school and university. It was a great opportunity to meet these women who are going to shape the future of their country!  (BTW, they all know English and are now working on their third language, French.)

The chocolate is on a stick and it melts in a hot cup of warm milk. Delicious! 

Viva le chocolat!