A great place to sample typical Catalan pastries, chocolates and take a coffee. The window display is an attention grabber and the bunyols, coca and croissants live up to their appetising appearance. The young manager is a friendly chap happy to serve in English.

On La Rambla de Catalunya

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Third-generation chocolate makers in Marseille. This family-run business produces chocolate made from unlikely ingredients such as onion and lavender, as well as pralines (well it is France!) and traditional barres Marseillaises (dark chocolate covered in fruit such as oranges).

A very small shop but apparently is world famous amongst chocolatiers. Well worth a visit. Black and white pictures of previous generations line the walls.

49 rue du Petit – Puits close to Rue du Panier.

chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2004/07/un_weekend_a_marseille_part_i.php

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A cafe/teashop inside the old Guildhall building, situated in its old court room - an interesting and attractive space. Good food options, very pleasant service and, true to their chocolate making origins, a menu of hot chocolate options! Also sells Caleys chocolate bars, biscuits and other sweet temptations. Very convenient in the city centre, as it's right next to the big central market.

The Guildhall, Gaol Hill, Norwich NR2. Open Mon - Sat

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This sweet and chocolate shop on the main street of Chamonix is delightful with free chocolate samples and gorgeous-tasting white and black chocolate, fill your bag with as much as you want - it's all good, but be warned it's not cheap!

Avenue Michel Croz.

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It's a small cockle stall selling, yep you guessed it, cockles. But they also do the MOST amazing hot chocolate with bits of Mars Bars floating in it and topped with marshmallows. V indulgent and naughty but a great winter warmer.

The Hard, Portsmouth. Between Portsmouth Harbour train station and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard's entrance.

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Hand-made Belgian chocolates are very different from the ones we buy in the shops in the UK. Fresh ones contain no preservatives and use 100% cocoa butter and fresh cream. They are light and delicate and have a shelf life of about six weeks.

On the other hand factory-made Belgian chocolates will not be as subtle in their flavours nor as delicious.

The master chocolatier that created these fresh ones will have used all his skill to ensure the chocolate coating is as thin as possible so that the filling becomes the hero!

Having said that, you should not be afraid to order hand-made chocolates through mail order delivery. They travel well (except to hot climates) and will not last long enough to be kept in storage when you receive them!

Two shops in particular come to mind in offering a mail order delivery. Dumon - through his web site contact Chocobong - and The Old Chocolate House where you will deal directly with the owner Francoise.

The large new shop for Dumon is on Simon Stevinplein and this is just round the corner from The Old Chocolate House on Mariastraat
www.oldchocolatehouse.com/Assortment.html

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Okay - so I am addicted to Bruges and its' chocolates! I was back there again this last weekend and my wife travelled to Amsterdam with her friends and then stopped in Bruges on the way back.

So many people from the UK are going there to buy their chocolates and see the sights and it definitely is not too late to plan a trip. If I set off from London in my car I am in Bruges in less than four hours.

My wife and friends went to Simon Stevinplein as that is where the best selections of handmade pralines and figures are to be found.

www.oldchocolatehouse.com/NewItems.html

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I was here, yet again, last week to stock up on Belgian chocolates and figures for my children and to visit the Wednesday market in the main square and the Saturday market near the bus station.

Bruges is great at any time of the year but Easter is one of the best for the window displays and unusual, for us in the UK, chocolate gifts.

The nearby Simon Stevinplein and Mariastraat have the best chocolate shops in town.

Mariastraat #1 - just next to Simon Stevinplein
www.oldchocolatehouse.com/Map.html

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Simon Stevinpolein is fast becoming the place to go in Bruges to get the widest and best choice of fresh made Belgian chocolates at fair prices.

With the opening of the Dumon shop at the corner of Mariastraat (20 metres from The Old Chocolate House and across the square from The Chocolate Line), visitors to Bruges need look no further than this central area to find something excellent to take home with them for Easter.

Simon Stevinplein is in the heart of Bruges next to Mariastraat
www.oldchocolatehouse.com/Map.html

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The Chocolate Line shop in this square in the heart of Bruges is a store owned by its renowned chocolatier Dominique Persoone.

They have a fab Easter display at the moment full of hippy CND campervans and chocolate figures. Buy a unique piece of chocolate art here as a surprise gift.

Simon Stevinplein leads into Mariastraat and is just to the side of Sint Salvatore Cathedral.
This map will show you where
www.oldchocolatehouse.com/Map.html

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Just went over to Bruges and visited this great chocolate shop. It was a chilly morning and Francoise (Fa) Thomaes and Barbe Van Den Haute were serving fantastic hot chocolate in their first floor tea-room. A great big cup of Belgian chocolate hot milk in a floating island of chocolate filled with fresh cream!! On the side - fresh Belgian pralines from their chocolatier. Decadent and delicious!

I enjoy my visits here as they always help in choosing just the right selection for my daughter Joanna.

www.oldchocolatehouse.com/
+32 50 340 102
#1, Mariastraat - next to Simon Stevinple
Check out the map of the city to see how close everything is to the centre www.oldchocolatehouse.com/Map.html

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A family run chocolate shop in the centre of town selling fresh hand-made belgian pralines and many gift items. Run by Francoise and her daughter Barbe who are always kind and smiling. Will ship mail order to UK as well as other countries.

1. Mariastraat - next to Simon Stevinplein and 1 minute walk from Church of our Lady
www.oldchocolatehouse.com/Introduction.html

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The most beautiful interesting chocolates - the shop is run by the most helpful woman who speaks several languages and seems to want you to be happy more than she wants to make money.

Leonidas Schusterstrasse 34-36 D-79098Freiburg im BreisgauGermany

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An established (since 1827) chocolatiers in the Barri Gotic. My god, talk about mouthwatering....not too sweet. Pierre Marcolini has some serious competition!

A truly original and stylish gift to take back for the descerning chocolate-lover (actually, I can take or leave chocolate, but these are special).

The ladies behind the counter even gift-wrap their cheapest bars of chocolate for you without the sort of attitude one might expaect from such an institution. Shopping the old-fashioned way. Not cheap, but what do you expect?

Carrer del Pi, 16 in the heart of the Barri Gotic

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Paris is the city of love but, whether you find yourself there with that special someone or on your lonesome, make your way down to La Coupole at Montparnasse.

The famous haunt of Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir has stunning internal décor and takes you back to another era. The food is delicious and if you are seeking the true Parisian experience then there is nowhere better to dine.

And, even if you end up alone there on Valentine's Day, indulging in their silky hot chocolate, at least the waiters know the way to a girl’s heart. Dessert on the house!

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Hot chocolate and chestnut cream cakes at Angelina's - an absolutely must-do event in Paris.

It's a traditional teahouse - with fin-de-siecle decor and mouth-watering cakes on display cabinets by the entrance that will have even the most die-hard savoury fans entranced. It's on Rue de Rivoli, opposite Tuileries, so you can have a wander round the gardens and over to the river when you've had your fill.

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If you love chocolate (and who visiting Belgium does not?), be sure to visit the Choco Story in the heart of Bruges.

It tells the history of chocolate and has hourly demonstrations of chocolate-making plus, of course, the chance to sample!

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Why not visit De Proeverie in Katelijnestraat. It is a delightful coffee shop. Their speciality is hot chocolate served the Belgian way with frothy milk and melted chocolate and whipped cream which you add yourself. It is out of this world. If that wasn't enough, it comes with a few chocolates from the chocalatier in the street opposite.

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If you wish to buy the best chocolate at reasonable prices, then the only place to go is The Chocolate Factory shop. You can taste before you buy and also watch the products being hand made.

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The Museum of Chocolate on the Grand Place is well worth a visit, complete with free samples!

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