If you are in Paris looking for quality chocolates, there are two places I can highly recommend. The first is Debauve & Gallais, the oldest chocolaterie in Paris.
Sulpice Debauve, child of the Age of Light, was born on 6th December 1757. It was his sincere belief that Science could, and should, relieve all the ills of humanity! Thanks to this scientific mind, he became interested in pharmacopoeia and, in 1778, became physician to the king.
As a pharmacist, Sulpice Debauve perfected the first individual chocolates in which he blended a headache remedy with cocoa butter. Marie-Antoinette fell in love with these chocolate drops, which she dubbed “The Queen’s Coins”
Having been granted the title of official chocolatier to Louis XVI, Sulpice Debauve then obtained the status of Chocolatier to First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte. He was then joined by his nephew, Jean-Baptiste Auguste Gallais, to create the Firm which bears both their names. The first chocolate boutique opened its doors in May in rue Saint-Dominique (in the 7th Arrondissment).
Maison Debauve et Gallais then moved premises to rue des Saints-Pères, and has never to moved since. This premises includes vast workshops and a boutique whose decoration was undertaken by architects Percier et Fontaine (well worth poking your nose in just to take a look at the decor)
The descendants of Sulpice Debauve and his nephew Jean-Baptiste Auguste Gallais have, one after the other, headed up the business. While preserving the savoir-faire of the two founders, their successors have expanded the range of chocolates and developed Debauve et Gallais into an international business.
Go with a lots of moolah! ‘The Royal Book Chocolate Selection’ is the wallet-emptying ultimate luxury chocolate box in the form of an oversized tooled leather, gilded book. Filled with dozens of the very finest luscious chocolate ganaches and superbly moulded pralines, this magnificent tome also includes a work telling the story of Maison Debauve et Gallais, from its earliest days, to modern times. Completing this ultimate luxury chocolate gift box is a bag adorned with their crest, plus a gilt-edged business card There are cheaper possibilities, of course!
Being a poor blogger, I prefer to go onto Boulevard Saint-Germain, just round the corner from Debauve & Gallais and enter the small, but delightful, shop of ‘Chocolats Richart’. Although the chocolatier comes from Lyon, In Paris, Chocolats Richart is well known, and for good reason. The small, uniquely decorated ganache are the trademark of this store, and they are quite emblematic in the world of chocolate. The flavors range from the traditional to the unique, but you are always in for a treat at this shop.
Their story began in 1925, in the family workshop of the Croix-Rousse in Lyon. Very early, Joseph and Renée Richart understood the influence of all our senses and particularly that of smell in the pleasure of tasting. They devoted themselves to making an artisanal chocolate with intense and often complex aromatic notes. Two generations and nearly a century later, they continue from father to son this tradition of chocolatier-arômier. Their macarons and mini-macarons are heaven on earth.
Good chocolates don’t come cheap, but both if these etablishments are worth a visit when next you come to the ‘City of Light’.