Our adventure in Paris continues! Here were today’s stops:

Angelinas; On Sunday Angie and I decided to visit Angelina’s on Rue Rivoli. The guidebooks say they have the best hot chocolate in Paris. The locals and tourists seemed to agree because we waited 45 min. to get in. Angelinas is located in an incredibly gorgeous buildings with beautifully painted walls and guilded mirrors, columns and plush furniture, in turn of the century style. The smell of hot chocolate enveloped us as we took our first sip. Sweet, unctious and delicious, the hot chocolate was worth waiting every minute for. So yummy, but is it the best? Can’t know yet.

The front counter at Angelina's

A very delicious snack at Angelina's

Angie enjoys a macron at Angelina's.

Christian Constant: There are a few pastry shops that are open on Sundays and Christian Constant is one of them. We arrived to a nearly full house and decided to check next door because that is where the cafe is located and we heard that the hot chocolate is incredible. Sadly it wasn’t open so we headed back to sample some of the yummy things in the shop. Christian Constant is famous for his great chocolate and pastry so we ordered a small box of bon bons or ganaches as they call them here, some of his chocolate bars and a chocolate tart. We waited until after brunch to try the ganaches and discovered that some of them were dry and the shell fell off the centers when you bit into them. We also felt that the flavors weren’t as pronounced as we had hoped. The tea ganaches were so subtle that we couldn’t taste the differences at all. This may be an individual style since many chocolate shops here are quite classic in their interpretation which may not suit the N. America penchant for more powerful flavors. In any case, I returned the box and explained that we thought the chocolate wasn’t fresh. The very kind shopkeeper didn’t agree but gave us another box that he filled up with new stock. Later that night after a couple of glasses of wine, I tried the chocolate tart and fell in love with C.C.

A Chocolate Bear at Christian Constant.

Guilty pleasures back at the hotel.

The Tower at night!