Today was a chocolate lovers paradise. We spent the day trolling around Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It is the city’s undisputed cocoa capital. In the 6th arrondissement alone, you’ll find over two dozen chocolateries and patisseries selling every kind of truffle, bonbon, and praline imaginable. St. Germain you can visit some of the best chocolatiers in the world. We didn’t hit all two dozen, but we did visit 8’different shops. This may be more than you want to know so jump ahead if chocolate and pastries are not your thing.

Patrick Roger – On central Boulevard Saint-Germain—around which all the chocolatiers are clustered, we found Patrick Roger, one of France’s most exciting chocolatiers. Roger is famous for his giant chocolate sculptures. There was an orangatang tang in the store front which was at least 3ft high. His creations were like pieces of art. His best-selling chocolates are the Instinct, a cluster of dark chocolate and roasted almond, and Corsica, a dark chocolate praline with orange peel.

Chocolatier Richart – has been designing gourmet chocolates since 1925. We were impressed with his petit collection

Gerard Mulot – This patisserie had breads, cakes, quiche and chocolate. Walking past the windows you see the pastries which are works of art. This place had a lot of character and the people were very welcoming.

Debauve & Gallais – Operating from the same small storefront since 1818, Debauve et Gallais is one of the oldest chocolatiers in Paris. In 1819, it was appointed the sole chocolate supplier of the French royal family, and from then on, created fine, handcrafted chocolates exclusively for Kings Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-Philippe. In 1913, Debauve et Gallais began selling its chocolate to the public—in the same blue and gold-embossed box presented to royals. The chocolatier is best known for its decadent dark chocolate truffles, said to be favored by King Louis himself.

Pierre Herme – Though Parisian pastry chef and chocolatier Pierre Hermé is best known for his macarons, his chocolates are just as beautifully made (and equally delicious). We had two chocolate macarons, which were quite yummy.

Larnicol – Unlike Henri Leroux or Pierre Hermé, the chocolates at Maison Georges Larnicol aren’t showcased under glass like precious jewels; instead, they’re laid out in no-fuss bins for you to scoop out yourself, like at a traditional candy store. Fill your paper bag with rochers (almonds and orange peel rolled in chocolate), chocolate-coated marshmallows, truffles, and apricot-hazelnut galettes (pebbles), then enjoy your loot while admiring the ever-changing window displays. They were ready for Halloween now.

La Mère de Famille – The oldest chocolatier in Paris, started in 1761.Though their shop in the 6th isn’t quite as historic, it still has a charming vintage feel with its wooden counters and tiled floors, and is piled high with the chocolatier’s beautifully traditional creations. Grab a tube of Florentines: slivered almonds dipped in caramelized honey, then coated in dark chocolate. This was the only store where we didn’t purchase anything.

Laduree – Ladurée is a French luxury bakery and sweets maker house created in 1862. It is one of the world’s best-known premier sellers of the double-decker macaron, fifteen thousand of which are sold every day. So we didn’t buy any chocolate here, just macaroons.

I didn’t mention this yet, but we did stop for lunch along the way. We were getting hungry and wanted to use the toilette, so we popped into a cafe on the corner near . At the time we didn’t realize that this was a well known restaurant frequently visited by the intellectuals and literary elite during it’s time – Les Deux Magots.  Its historical reputation is derived from the patronage of Surrealist artists, intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and young writers, such as Ernest Hemingway. Other patrons included Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, Bertolt Brecht, Julia Child, and the American writers, James Baldwin, Chester Himes, Charles Sutherland, and Richard Wright. I don’t know all those names,  it some of you may know them. Now it’s just a restaurant that many tourists visit. We sat inside and saw the statues of the two Mandarin men, the magots. Magot” literally means, “stocky figurine from the Far East.

On our way to the RER, we stopped at Les Antiquaires-Cafe Brasserie, for s drink, the toilette and some chocolate and Carmel ice cream. Omg delish again.