Salon du Chocolat

This past weekend we attended Paris' annual Salon du Chocolat. I had high hopes for this event, but it was, alas, quite a madhouse with wall-to-wall people in a expo hall that was too small. (Notice the line behind us in the photo. It was like being at an amusement park, but fortunately the line moved quickly.) We sampled a few chocolates and chocolate treats from some of our favorite chocolatiers and witnessed chocolate-dipping and part of a cooking demonstration. David arranged to have us meet up with some classmates of his from HEC which was fun.

The highlight of our visit was meeting Monsieur Pierre Hermé! David said, "There's something going on over there... people are snapping pictures with someone who might be famous." I looked over and recognized him immediately! My first introduction to him was a guest on an episode of Martha Stewart Cooking. He's written a few dessert cookbooks which I'll need to examine the next time I'm at the bookstore.

Coincidentally, I had just visited his pastry shop last week to pick up some decadent desserts for Emmett's 11-month birthday. He was autographing books, but I requested a photo with him because I couldn't afford to drop over 120€ on his latest book, Ph 10: Pâtisserie Pierre Hermé. I told him how much we enjoyed his desserts and David said he seemed pleased when I reeled off the three we had. I'm sure I blathered on for too long, but I didn't care: I was standing next to Pierre Hermé himself!

Near the end of our visit, there was a fashion show which Emmett watched from my shoulders. David took a few photos of the models on the runaway wearing "chocolate-themed" fashion.