A chocolate crawl through Paris

Chocolate cafés

Hot Chocolate - Chez Angelina
Join the queue at this grand Viennese cafe, founded by Antoine Rumpelmayer in 1903, a former favourite with Proust, Coco Chanel and George V and now a must for Parisians and tourists alike. Your thick, sweet hot chocolate, accompanied with cream and served on a silver tray, make it well worth the wait. Try the pastries, and if you don't want to go home empty handed, treat yourself to something sweet from the boutique.

Chez Angelina
226 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
Tel: +33 (0) 1 42 60 82 00
Metro: Tuileries

Chocolate on Water - Route du Cacao
When the sun is shining, relax on the Chocolate barge, run by Pascal Guerreau, the former racing car driver, who is so obsessed by chocolate that he made a life-size Formula One car out of it! The barge is moored on the Seine, just by the Bibliotheque Nationale and next to nightclub barge Batofar. Wander around the little chocolate museum, and tropical hothouse (with cocoa tree) and chocolate boutique. Then watch your hot chocolate (there's a choice of five on the menu) being made in the chocolate laboratory before taking a seat upstairs in the tearoom. Far from the tourist trail, prices are reasonable. You can even have a light savoury lunch (the restaurant kitchen is separate from the chocolate lab so that the chocolate's delicate flavours are untainted).

La Route du Cacao
Quai de la Gare, 75013 Paris
Opposite the Bibliothèque Nationale de France Tel: +33 (0) 1 53 82 10 35
Metro: Quai de la Gare

Chocolate Schools

Learning at Lenôtre
Lenôtre's cakes, pastries and chocolates - encased under glass like jewels - are world class. They are the essence of Parisien chic, each one is perfectly presented. Choose from coriander, Jeanne d'Arc cherry liqueur, Miroir Cassis (Blackcurrant caramel), pistachio and Romeo - a seductive dark chocolate. Lenotre's chocs are sweeter than Hevin's or Linxe's.

For those who have already immersed themselves in the world of chocolate and wish to learn its secrets for themselves, Lenôtre offers morning (and week-long classes). But don't expect instant results - it takes four hours for Lenôtre's 'gâteau tout chocolat' (all chocolate cake) to blossom into something that really does look too good to eat.

Ecole Lenotre
48 avenue Victor Hugo, 75116 Paris
Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 02 21 21
Visit www.lenotre.fr .
Metro: Victor Hugo

Ritz-Escoffier
All the cookery courses at the prestigious Ritz-Escoffier school for amateur and professional gastronomes are given with a translator and Ritz chef. If you're serious about your chocolate, book yourself in for a chocolate class - well in advance. These classes are snapped up as fast as chocolates on a plate!

Ecole Ritz Escoffier
15 place Vendome (student entrance: 38 rue Cambon, 75001 Paris)
Tel: +33 (0) 1 43 16 30 50
Visit www.ritzparis.com.
Metro: Concorde/Opera/Madeleine

Chocolate Factory

Nestlé Chocolate Factory
At the other end of the scale from handmade chocolate, go for a tour of the historic Menier factory (built 1860-1922), just outside of Paris in the Ile-de-France region. Now a listed monument and headquarters to confectionary giant Nestle, the former factory opens to the public for free visits on Heritage Day (Journée du patrimoine), 9am-5pm Sunday 16 September 2001. The highlight is the colourful ceramics of the Moulin Saulnier, the largest of the eleven factory buildings.

Siège Social de Nestlé France SA
7 Boulevard Pierre Carle-Noisiel, 77446 (Marne la Vallee)
From Paris: RER (direction Chessy, Noisiel stop)

Chocolate Salon 31 Oct-4 Nov
This is the crème de la crème of the chocolate lover's year. Some 100,000 chocoholics, and chocolatiers from all over the world, descend on the Carrousel du Louvre for chocolate fashion shows, chocolate sculpture, chocolate awards, chocolate workshops and chocolate tastings.

Carrousel du Louvre, 99, rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
Visit www.chocoland.com.

Useful Links
www.croqueurschocolat.com
www.choco-club.com