Delicious Delights in Paris

Now I know where you can get the best hot chocolate in Paris (and that's after only trying one hot chocolate in Paris so you know I'm an expert!). It can be found at Angelina. I'd read about the café in several guide books before my last trip to Paris but we had so many other chocolate shops and patisseries on our list last time that we couldn't possibly cover them all. So when my friend and I went to Paris last weekend I made a point to go there. We went for breakfast and both decided to get the Pétit Dejeuner Parisien (Parisian Breakfast). Included was a fresh-pressed juice-orange, grapefruit or lemon (who orders that?)-, a hot drink of choice (DEFINITELY go for the hot chocolate), mini viennoiserie (mini pastries) - pain au chocolat, croissant and pain aux raisins- and a roll served with butter, honey and jam. Everything was very good and the hot chocolate (which comes in a 2-cup pitcher) was thick and chocolatey. The unsweetened whipped cream, which was whipped to perfection, made it even more heavenly. Good thing they serve it on the side so you can keep adding more with every sip instead of it melting right away and leaving none for the last sips. Since the breakfast was quite expensive I'd recommend just getting a regular sized croissant or other pastry to go with the hot chocolate.  Next time I visit the café I just have to try one of their beautiful pastries.

On the first day of our trip I needed (yes, NEEded) a coffee and a sweet and we ended up at Jean-Paul Hévin, where we had only briefly stopped by to get some pastries -to-go during my last visit. This time we took a seat in the upstairs café, which was cute and cozy due to the chocolate colored interior. I had the Chocolat passion, a cake layered with chocolate sponge, chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache. It was very tasty although it could have been a tad fresher. My beverage of choice was the Viennese coffee as it came with whipped cream, which is currently my must-have accessory. 

This trip I also revisited Pierre Hermé and La Maison du Chocolat where I got some goodies to go: macarons at Pierre Hermé and chocolate at Maison du Chocolat. So far my favorite macaron is still the chocolate one with salted caramel following closely. This time I tried mint, but the flavor doesn't go along that well with the almond flavor of the macaron shells. At Maison du Chocolat I tried a couple different chocolates-Andalousie (dark chocolate ganache infused with lemon zest), Chiberta (dark chocolate mousse with orange and lemon zest), Yoko (dark chocolate ganache infused with Russian Douchka black tea) and Rigoletto Noir (caramelized mousse coated with dark chocolate). All were very good. 

Another place I finally visited was A la Mère de Famille, a shop carrying chocolates and candies. There I bought some goodies to take home. It's definitely well worth the visit.